| 1 | %%Don't be afraid to hit the Discussion page if you think your example could be added or their inclusion debated. We're open for discussion. |
| 2 | |
| 3 | Alongside heroes, antagonists in the ''Fire Emblem'' series tend to follow certain archetypes in both story and gameplay.\ |
| 4 | |
| 5 | To see the central character index for the entire ''Franchise/FireEmblem'' series, go [[Characters/FireEmblem here]]. |
| 6 | |
| 7 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 8 | |
| 9 | !Bandit Bosses |
| 10 | BitPartBadGuys typically unrelated to [[TheEmpire the evil empire]], or [[AncientConspiracy ancient evil dragons]]. |
| 11 | * The Gazzak: A StarterVillain and often the very first boss. Likes to prey on the weak. Usually a bandit or a pirate. |
| 12 | * Bandit Twins: An eccentric duo that may be defending their turf from intruders or protecting stolen loot. |
| 13 | |
| 14 | [[folder:The Gazzak]] |
| 15 | When a Lord starts their journey, they will usually be given a weak group to face in order to ease up their journey before fighting imperial soldiers, evil cult members, or even dragons. The group called for this job are usually bandits (or sometimes, pirates). These bandits usually have leaders in the form of Gazzak. Gazzak characters usually don't have very deep characterization, as they exist to be disposed of early and then forgotten about. But they serve as the first step for the Lord characters to begin their journey. For this, they're always equipped with an axe, which is always on the losing end of the Lord's preferred weapon, the sword. They may occupy a throne to make up for their disadvantage of the weapon triangle. But overall, they serve as the Tutorial boss of each games, teaching the ropes to the players.\ |
| 16 | |
| 17 | While this archetype is obviously unrecruitable, ''VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Conquest'' features a bald bandit leader with the same name (Gazak) that can be recruited by capturing and persuading him. |
| 18 | |
| 19 | ->'''Characters of this archetype:''' Gazzak (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]''); Gerrard (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Damas (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Batta and Groznyi (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]'')[[note]]Batta fills the role in Lyn's Tale and Groznyi fills it in Eliwood's Tale, while Hector's Tale has no counterpart to Batta and Groznyi, and the first boss of Hector's Tale, Wire is not a bandit of any sort, but rather a trained assassin from the primary antagonist organization of the game[[/note]]; Bazba (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Zawana (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]''); Pugo (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Garrick (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Brigand Boss (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Shadows of Valentia]]'')[[note]]he didn't have a name or dialogue in the original ''Gaiden'', but he gets the latter in the remake[[/note]]; Kostas (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemWarriorsThreeHopes Warriors: Three Hopes]]''); Garrick again (''VideoGame/TokyoMirageSessionsFE'') |
| 20 | |
| 21 | ->'''Character that only has elements of this archetype''': Bucks[[note]]He is the first Bandit boss in the game, being the first promoted enemy in the game, as well as the only Bandit boss before Gomes, but he's actually serving under Lifis[[/note]] and Gomes (''VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776'')[[note]]Shows up too late to be considered a StarterVillain, and is more [[AntiVillain sympathetic]] and [[WakeUpCallBoss difficult]] than is standard for this trope.[[/note]], Teronda[[note]]While visually and role-wise similar to Gazzak, he is not the StarterVillain; Alear and their team have fought several Corrupted soldiers and even those under the Four Hounds before him.[[/note]](''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'') |
| 22 | ---- |
| 23 | * BeautyEqualsGoodness: None of the Gazzaks are pretty, and they're all one-dimensional evil bandits. |
| 24 | * BrutishCharacterBrutishWeapon: Gazzaks are ruthless bandits who wield axes. |
| 25 | * DeconstructedCharacterArchetype: While he's only partial due to his latter appearance, [[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Teronda]] deconstructs the whole archetype, showing what happens if they do not become the first stage boss like a traditional Gazzak: The stage he's fought at is a ruined village which has been thoroughly pillaged by Teronda (and many characters lament on how this village has been razed to the ground without hope of salvation) chiefly featuring darkness/fog of war and he claims that he has done the same to many other villages before this one. While most stages featuring a Gazzak feature at least functional villages for the respective Lords to save, [[YouAreTooLate Alear's army is given no such opportunity because they're all tied up with the Corrupted in the meantime, giving Teronda's group a short, free reign to pillage to his heart's content.]] |
| 26 | * EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Despite the archetype being filled with land-lubbing bandits, the original Gazzak and his men are actually classified in both story and gameplay as {{Pirate}}s. To make the story not too dependant on the body of water, latter games simplify that as long as they do RapePillageAndBurn to poor villages, land-lubbing bandits will suffice. |
| 27 | * FlatCharacter: They don't need any other characterization aside from "Grr, evil bandits!". Administrivia/TropesAreNotBad, however, since you don't really need deep characterization on someone meant to be killed and forgotten in the very first act. |
| 28 | * TheGoomba: Overall, they're this for the whole franchise. You'll always face normally-easy-to-beat bandits led by these guys in the beginning of the game. And occasionally, bandits like these guys pop up again (with or without a Gazzak figure to lead them), but they tend to be easy pickings for your heroes compared to other more advanced enemies and you only have to worry about how quick you can stop them from pillaging villages. |
| 29 | * LoneWolfBoss: With the exceptions of Gerrard and Kostas, they aren't connected to the game's main villains. They're just ordinary lowlifes out for coin. |
| 30 | * ObviouslyEvil: Though low on the villainy chain, you can definitely tell from looks alone that they're not dashing swashbuckling rogues, but evil ravaging bandits. |
| 31 | * RapePillageAndBurn: Their standard modus operandi. They send out their men to destroy villages (if there's one in the map), thereby teaching the players to be quick to secure villages and get items. Due to the family-friendly image of Nintendo, however, the 'Rape' part is just left to the player's imagination; the 'Pillage' and 'Burn' parts are the ones that can be on-screen. |
| 32 | * StarterVillain: Usually the first enemy boss you encounter in the series. |
| 33 | * WakeUpCallBoss: On higher difficulties, chances are that these guys will be the first taste of real difficulty, especially on [[HarderThanHard that game's equivalent of Lunatic and Lunatic +]]. |
| 34 | * WarmUpBoss: They exist to familiarize the players with the usual game mechanics, especially if the game gets NintendoHard somewhere. If you can't beat them, you may want to lower the difficulty... |
| 35 | [[/folder]] |
| 36 | |
| 37 | [[folder:The Bandit Twins]] |
| 38 | The Bandit Twins are recurring minor antagonists. The bandits have always had the same hairstyle; one has purple hair and one has dark hair. They usually appear in desert levels. They're much more territorial than a Gazzak: Rather than exploring and finding new places to loot, they're more content to wander around and looting within their own area. But make no mistake, [[CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass despite their quirkier appearances and personalities, they're just as ruthless as the Gazzaks]], looting and razing towns as best as they can when able.\ |
| 39 | |
| 40 | Traditionally an [=NPC=] archetype, though they can be "recruited" in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemFates'' by using the Capture command. |
| 41 | |
| 42 | ->'''Characters of this Archetype''': Maggie and Rose (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Paul and Jasmine (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Pain and Agony (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Vincent and Victor (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Lloyd and Llewelyn[[labelnote:*]]The first two members to be recruitable if captured by Orochi or Niles during Kana's recruitment Paralogue[[/labelnote]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Totchie and Tetchie (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'') |
| 43 | |
| 44 | ->'''Characters that only have elements of this archetype''': Dolph and Macellan [[note]]Superficially resemble this archetype with their thuggish appearance and [[InexplicablyIdenticalIndividuals identical resemblance to one another]], but they are playable Knights.[[/note]](''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem New Mystery of the Emblem]]''), Pallardó and his BodyDouble [[note]]Although the two have identical appearances, they're never fought at the same time.[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemWarriorsThreeHopes Warriors: Three Hopes]]'') |
| 45 | ---- |
| 46 | * AerithAndBob: Their Japanese names tend to have this going on. Examples of the ''Awakening'' ones: Handsome (Vincent) and ''George'' (Victor). |
| 47 | * AffablyEvil: Most of the time, the twins are oddly polite for bandits. |
| 48 | * BaldOfEvil: Most of them are bandits and have a shaved head. |
| 49 | * TheBerserker: Berserker is their most preferred class. |
| 50 | * ButterFace: All of them have muscular builds, but somewhat homely faces. |
| 51 | * BrutishCharacterBrutishWeapon: As typical for roving bandits, they wield axes. |
| 52 | * CreepyTwins: In some games, they're specified as related. |
| 53 | * CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: Although not very strong compared to other villains, their quirky appearances may make the players think that they could be mere {{Joke Character}}s. However, they appear mid-game so they often come with better classes than Gazzaks, and if there's a nearby village, they ''will'' waste no time to loot the village and razing it to the ground, showing that no matter how you look at it, the commonfolks fear them for a reason. |
| 54 | * DesertBandits: They're usually criminals that operate in the desert. |
| 55 | * DualBoss: They're almost always fought together. In ''The Blazing Blade'', they have a support bonus that gives one a higher critical rate, meaning it is important to defeat them before they get close enough to use it. |
| 56 | * EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Dolph and Macellan in Archanea have some elements of the archetype; they are two thuggish-looking bald musclemen who are InexplicablyIdenticalIndividuals that are always seen together, but they are playable Knights. |
| 57 | * IdenticalTwinIDTag: [[DownplayedTrope Sort of]]. Though they typically look completely identical aside from how they're {{Palette Swap}}s of each other, they also tend to have [[FightingFingerprint different fighting styles]], usually expressed through minor stat variations and weapon choice- typically with one being stronger, and the other being more skilled or faster. |
| 58 | * GagLips: Downplayed, but they're drawn with lips, while most characters aren't. |
| 59 | * {{Gonk}}: All of them tend to be much uglier than other characters to differentiate them from the rest of the cast. |
| 60 | * InexplicablyIdenticalIndividuals: Most of them aren't related, despite looking like twins. |
| 61 | * NoBrows: They have no eyebrows, contributing to an intimidating appearance. |
| 62 | * PaletteSwap: In ''The Binding Blade'', the two are direct palette swaps of each other, and a few other bosses like Scott also use their portrait. In the Japanese version of ''Fates'', the bosses in Anna's DLC are not in fact them, but [[ThemeNaming meat-themed]] bandits reusing their portraits. In the US version, the meat bandits were [[DubNameChange altered]], and [[CompositeCharacter made]] to be Lloyd and Llewelyn. |
| 63 | * PromotedToPlayable: In ''Fates'', the Bandit twins can be captured and recruited into the player's army. |
| 64 | * ThemeTwinNaming: Aside from Paul and Jasmine, all of the twins have a theme with their names. |
| 65 | * VillainousFriendship: They're almost never seen without each other, and tend to be [[HoYay quite fond of each other]]. In ''The Blazing Blade'', they even have an A-Support between them. |
| 66 | [[/folder]] |
| 67 | |
| 68 | !Noble Enforcers |
| 69 | Just battle commanders who happen to be playing for the wrong team. BeautyEqualsGoodness is usually in effect, so you may even be led to think you could recruit them. Due to their strong values, knightly code, or for the sake of their loved ones, they remain loyal to the villains until the end. |
| 70 | |
| 71 | * The Camus: A typically male physical unit that fights out of loyalty to their nation or their master. |
| 72 | * The Ishtar: A typically female magical unit that fights out of love for their nation or their people. |
| 73 | * The One-Shot General: A lower-ranking general that is beloved by their subordinates. They last just as long as Gazzaks despite their later introduction and sympathy level. |
| 74 | * The Murdock: A high-ranking male commander of a very physical class that is frantically loyal to their superior or organization. Whilst honorable, unlike Camus, a Murdock remains hostile towards the protagonists and never considers changing sides. |
| 75 | |
| 76 | [[folder:The Camus]] |
| 77 | !!Camus |
| 78 | The Camus is an AntiVillain from the opposing army that acts as one of the BigBad's generals. They [[NothingPersonal hold no ill will towards the player's army]] and usually [[MyMasterRightOrWrong know that what their leader is doing is wrong, but they continue to fight anyway out of loyalty to their nation or lord]]. Unlike other enemy commanders, the Camus cares about the well-being of their subordinates, to the point where they even allow any soldier who does not want to fight to leave the battlefield. They also tend to be very powerful bosses on their own, either through their sheer stats or the fact that they possess a very powerful weapon (or both); if the weapon is obtainable, it probably won't be with their original user.\ |
| 79 | |
| 80 | Characters of this archetype tend to not be recruitable. |
| 81 | |
| 82 | ->'''Characters of this archetype:''' Camus (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]''); Wolf[[note]]only in the original SNES Book 2; he becomes a Lorenz in the DS remake[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Eldigan and Arion (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Reinhardt (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Galle (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Lloyd and Linus (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Glen (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Bryce (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]''); Zelgius and Levail (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Yen'fay (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Xander [[note]]He only qualifies in ''Birthright''as he joins your party in the other two routes.[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Cyril[[note]]Only on the Crimson Flower route[[/note]] and Dimitri[[note]]Only on the Crimson Flower route, as he protects Seiros despite her increasing insanity.[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''); Alternate Diamant (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]''); Xander (again) (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemHeroes Heroes]]'') |
| 83 | |
| 84 | ->'''Characters that only have elements of this archetype''': Helbindi [[note]]Book II; He's a sympathetic enemy general, but ends up turning on Surtr in the final chapter, thus disqualifying him.[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemHeroes Heroes]]'') |
| 85 | |
| 86 | %%Discussion has led to the consensus that Fernand from ''Shadows of Valentia'' is not a Camus archetype. Take it over there if you want to argue further. |
| 87 | ---- |
| 88 | * AncestralWeapon: Some, like Eldigan and Xander, wield weapons exclusive to them or their bloodline. Others, like Camus and Bryce, wield incredibly powerful weapons the player can get only with their death. |
| 89 | * AntiVillain: Their defining trope, they are the poster children of this in the whole franchise: They are the kind of people who would make great friends and allies if it wasn't for them being on the other side of the war, and their honor prevents them from defecting. |
| 90 | * CainAndAbel: Many of them (though certainly not all) have a sibling or some other very close relationship among the heroic forces, adding to the tragedy of being forced to fight them. Ironically, even though the Camus is a villain, they actually are the ''Abel'' of the duo, since their sibling will be the one who has turned traitor against the villainous forces, and they are the ones who have to die like Abel did. |
| 91 | * DeconstructedCharacterArchetype: |
| 92 | ** Eldigan in ''Genealogy of the Holy War'' serves as the first one to apply this to it. Eldigan is eternally loyal to his country despite the rulers of it being terrible people. His loyalty to Agustria leads him to turn his sword on his best friend Sigurd and refusing to commit mutiny against the aforementioned terrible rulers despite his countrymen actually being fine if he became the next king, which leads to his death. However, if instead his sister Lachesis runs into him, she convinces him to stop, leading Eldigan to return to his lord Chagall to convince him to stop the fighting. Chagall proceeds to have him beheaded. In the end, his loyalty to his country and lord, despite it being clear how wrong it is, leads to his death regardless. |
| 93 | ** Reinhardt from ''Thracia 776''. Although Reinhardt is a sympathetic and noble person and is morally against the Child Hunts, he stays loyal out of both his knightly vows and love for his boss Ishtar. When his sister Olwen finds out he won't do what's right in spite of knowing the truth, she calls him out as a coward, and turns against him. This leads to Reinhardt's potential death when he stubbornly refuses to yield to Leif's army. Ultimately, as sympathetic as he is, Reinhardt is too afraid of going against his home and the one he loves, and so he willingly throws aside his own views out of fear. |
| 94 | ** Corrin in ''Fates: Conquest'' serves as one despite being a playable character (and the Lord and Avatar on top of that). They show just how hard it is to be unable to leave the service of the BigBad because of your own personal commitments (whether to your loved ones or your country). |
| 95 | ** Dimitri and Faerghus as a whole embody the mentality of the Camus, HonorBeforeReason, and Dimitri fights to defend his country against an invading Adrestian empire but is still loyal to an increasingly ruthless and violent Rhea. |
| 96 | * {{Foil}}: To the playable Lorenz archetype. Both are renowned enemy generals who don't completely support the villains' goals, but while the Lorenz's virtuousness ultimately wins out and allows him to join your party, the Camus is too caught up in HonorBeforeReason to do the same. Ironically, the archetype-naming Camus himself has served as both opposing archetypes: his own in ''Shadow Dragon'', and a Lorenz as Zeke in ''Gaiden''. |
| 97 | * HeelFaceDoorSlam: If a character of this archetype ''is'' on the verge of a HeelRealization, as seen in Eldigan[[note]]if Lachesis speaks with him[[/note]], [[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones Glen]], and [[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade the Reed brothers]], they're bound to be killed off by one of the more unscrupulous villains before they can complete it. |
| 98 | * HonorBeforeReason: Many of them choose death over disobeying their masters. This can be a main difference between them and the Ishtar archetype: While sometimes an Ishtar would use their love for someone amongst the bad guys (be it family or lover) as a reason to fight the good guys, a Camus is always about a knight's honor and loyalty to country (and its innocent people), not a romance partner. While the original Camus had a love affair with Princess Nyna, she was not the Princess of his country, Grust, which he dedicated his battles for, and solemnly accepted that their forbidden love [[StarCrossedLovers was not meant to be]]. The only one who kind of deviates from this is Reinhardt, whose affection for Ishtar became one of his reasons to not leave Friege, in addition to his knight's honor. |
| 99 | * ItsPersonal: There are some cases where a Camus character may be on their way to defect because of their piling-up doubts, but then something happened: You wrecked their side so much that some of their ''really'' close friends suffer or die. At that point, a Camus will outright reject any notions of joining the good guys because things just escalated on a personal level. Just look at what happened to [[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade Lloyd & Linus]] and [[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Birthright!Xander]]. Ironically, it was [[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Ishtar]] who codified this before she ended up branching to her own archetype. |
| 100 | * MyCountryRightOrWrong: Usually, they disagree with many of the actions done by their ruler/country, but ultimately obey nevertheless. The sole exception is Glen, who might have turned face if he had the chance; too bad Valter murdered him first. |
| 101 | * NobleTopEnforcer: They're usually one of the most powerful forces on the enemies' side, but have a strong sense of honor. |
| 102 | * RedemptionRejection: Any attempt to convince them to defect to the heroes falls on deaf ears, and they must be killed (or occasionally circumvented). The sole exceptions are Arion, who actually can be convinced to stand down by Altena, and Lloyd/Linus (whoever you fight first) and Glen, who are [[HeelFaceDoorSlam murdered before they get the chance]]. |
| 103 | * SoleSurvivor: Ironically, Camus is the only one of his archetype who definitely canonically lives after the events of the game he's introduced in. Xander is also this by definition of being playable in ''Conquest'' and ''Revelations'', though he isn't a Camus in either of those routes. |
| 104 | * UnbuiltTrope: The original Camus actually sees the error of his ways in ''Mystery of the Emblem'' (he has amnesia in ''Gaiden'') and chooses to fight for good out of guilt for his actions. |
| 105 | * UndyingLoyalty: All of them towards their country/nation, which ironically gets at least some of them canonically killed. |
| 106 | * WorthyOpponent: They often come to see the Lords as such, sometimes bordering on rivalry levels. |
| 107 | [[/folder]] |
| 108 | |
| 109 | [[folder:The Ishtar]] |
| 110 | Often called the female Camus, the Ishtar serves a similar role to the Camus, being an AntiVillain who fights for the sake of their country and is usually not a HateSink. The main difference between this and the Camus, however, is that the Ishtar is the female character equivalent. Typically, the Ishtar knows that their country is wrong, but are loyal to a loved one, usually a betrothed or lover, and fight to protect them from the heroes. When they are not fighting to protect a loved one, they instead fight for the sake of protecting their home country. If they do fight the heroes, they typically use magic to be a {{Foil}} to their usually physically-oriented lover, or to differentiate them from other Camus characters in the game. In most situations, they decide to [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere leave the battlefield]] entirely, usually because of ConflictingLoyalty, and typically end up appearing in the end in some manner. If they appear frequently in the story, they are typically at odds with the Dark Lady. In some rare instances, they are [[TheUnfought not even fought by the heroes]], and instead simply try to stop the heroes, or even those close to them, from fighting.\ |
| 111 | |
| 112 | Characters of this archetype tend to not be recruitable, though in some cases, they are actually [[MetaTwist playable units]] who, due to story events, are now enemies with the player. |
| 113 | |
| 114 | ->'''Characters of this archetype:''' Ishtar (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Altena (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Brunnya (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Selena (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Ena[[note]]She is playable, but only under the right conditions.[[/note]] and Jill[[note]]While she is gained naturally in the story, she can defect to the enemy side if the player doesn't have a high enough support with Mist and directs her to fight her father — and if this happens, [[PressXToDie you really only have yourself to blame]].[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]''); Micaiah[[note]]Like with Ena, she is a playable unit, but for a time is in opposition to Ike in Chapter 3.[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Flora, Hinoka[[note]]only in ''Conquest'', as she is trying to stop you from invading her home[[/note]] and Camilla[[note]]Only in ''Birthright'' and with the same reasons as Hinoka, with the added bonus of getting so overly attached to her sibling that she resorted to more brutal methods at times[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Rinea[[note]]Fits a lot of the elements of one, but isn't fought until she is brought back as a Witch against her will.[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Shadows of Valentia]]''); Catherine and Hilda [[note]]Only on the Crimson Flower route, where Catherine refuses to abandon Rhea despite her growing insanity and Hilda is devoted to protect Claude and the Alliance[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''); Marni, Alternate Hortensia (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]''); Laegjarn, Triandra, and Plumeria (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemHeroes Heroes]]'') |
| 115 | ---- |
| 116 | * AntiVillain: Like the Camus, they are all sympathetic in why they fight the heroes. Almost all of them are loyal to their home and simply wish to protect it. In some cases, they do so to protect loved ones. |
| 117 | * BeautyEqualsGoodness: All of them are attractive, beautiful ladies. Naturally, you can tell they aren't anywhere near as evil as some of the others. |
| 118 | * CombatMedic: In some cases, the Ishtar is a magic class with the ability to heal others, usually meant to symbolize their kindness, while most Camus-types are physical bruisers. A notable exception is Catherine, who's effectively a female Camus. |
| 119 | * ConflictingLoyalty: A common trait among them is a growing concern over what they should do. For most, they stop fighting once it reaches a point where they cannot overcome it. In some cases, [[LastStand they instead]] [[SuicideByCop choose to die fighting for their home]]. |
| 120 | * DeconstructedCharacterArchetype: |
| 121 | ** Micaiah starts off being your typical Ishtar, fighting for the people and her country despite having misgivings about the reasons for the conflict. As the war goes on, however, she gradually begins to crack under the pressure of knowing that she is fighting against what she believes in, and yet also being too loyal to stop fighting, resorting in her becoming more desperate and willing to betray her own beliefs in the hopes that she can end the war in Daein's victory. The result is that she nearly kills several ''thousand'' soldiers in a trap, leading to her being [[WhatTheHellHero called out]] by Tibarn when he puts [[LoveInterest Sothe]] in danger. The result makes Micaiah break down and call off her trap, as she realizes [[HeWhoFightsMonsters she has become no better than the enemy they originally fought for liberation]], and that she cannot ignore her own feelings as she once did. She resolves herself to stop fighting afterward, but outside factors force the conflict to continue anyway. |
| 122 | ** Marni shows just what happens if an Ishtar tries to break the mold and not being LawfulStupid, even for the sake of her loved one: [[spoiler:Attempting to break the helmet that keeps Evil Veyle in control causes Zephia to finally punish her with death.]] There's another element deconstructed: [[spoiler:Just because one fights for a family/group she liked (in this case the Four Hounds) doesn't always mean that said family/group will always reciprocate. If said family/group is particularly heartless, they will be the one killing the rebelling Ishtar, not the player's army.]] |
| 123 | * DistaffCounterpart: Pretty much a female version of Camus with the same nobleness and loyalty. |
| 124 | * FemalesAreMoreInnocent: Female and more innocent than the other enemies, definitely moreso than any of the Dark Ladies (yes, surpassing even Eremiyas). |
| 125 | * {{Foil}}: |
| 126 | ** To the Witch. The Witch usually is a cruel, evil, and sadistic woman who fights for malevolent reasons, while the Ishtar is a kind, good, and honest woman who fights for what they believe in. This usually is reflected in their designs, as the Witch will usually have darker clothing, hair, and, design-wise, an overtly sexual appearance, while the Ishtar will usually have lighter hair, clothing, and a modest but still beautiful appearance. This also makes the Ishtar foiling the ''other'' kind of Dark Lady: The Eremiya. While the Eremiya was evil not by her choice, the Ishtar chose to stay antagonistic on her own will, sympathetic as they may be. |
| 127 | ** Also to the heroic Minerva half of the Wyvern Duo archetype; while they are both loyal enough to fight for their countries to the end, Minervas will always come around in the end while Ishtars generally don't. |
| 128 | * LoveRedeems: {{Subverted}} in most cases. If they are loyal out of love, even if it's familial instead of romantic, most of them attempt to convince the one they love to back out of fighting. Sadly, it almost never works, largely because the one they love is also [[UndyingLoyalty extremely loyal]], or [[AxCrazy goes insane]]. |
| 129 | * MyCountryRightOrWrong: If they aren't loyal out of love for another, they typically are just very steadfast in their loyalty to their home. Unlike the Camus, they are almost all aware of how wrong the things they, or their country, are doing, but remain silent since they feel it is the right thing to do. This is why Micaiah, Hinoka and Catherine fall into the archetype, as while they are playable characters, the direction of the story makes them an antagonist to the faction currently being played. |
| 130 | * SensibleHeroesSkimpyVillains: If you want to know which female antagonist is more sympathetic, look at the one who dresses more conservatively. That would be the Ishtar, not the Witch. There were only some subversions on this: |
| 131 | ** Camilla dressed very sensually like a Witch and was very aggressive in her offense, but aside of her rather creepy yet genuine sisterly love, she was also defending her home, conflicted with her family issues and has desires to be a doting mother and inspiring her subordinates through leadership, traits that are antithesis to the more evil Witch. |
| 132 | ** Both Triandra and Plumeria dressed like Witches and at least for Plumeria, acted very sultry, but both had motives more similar to an Ishtar, [[spoiler:driven to resurrect Freyja who they looked up to very highly.]] |
| 133 | * TheStoic: A good amount of them are fairly stoic, largely because they hold their true feelings back and follow orders. When they do show emotions, it usually is meant to be a sign that they've reached a breaking point. |
| 134 | * TokenGoodTeammate: Due to their emotional struggles and occasional kindness (to the point [[NonActionGuy they don't actively fight at times, like Ena and Rinea]]), they tend to hold this place amongst the bad guys. |
| 135 | * UndyingLoyalty: They are all fiercely loyal to their country or lord. Like the Camus, they tend to obey even orders they know are wrong. |
| 136 | [[/folder]] |
| 137 | |
| 138 | [[folder:The One-Shot General]] |
| 139 | An archetype which combines the qualities of a Camus and the screen time of a Gazzak. They're all one-shot antagonists meant to be forgotten once beaten, but at times, they possess enough decency that they don't come off ObviouslyEvil, but more like an AntiVillain or a personable PunchClockVillain who fought against the player, once again blurring the lines between good and evil within the story. Most of the time, the reason is that their [[BadBoss nastier commanders]] threaten any form of disobedience with harsh punishment (usually [[YouHaveFailedMe death]]), giving the OSG no choice but to obey [[AFatherToHisMen if only to protect their subordinates]]. Unlike Camus characters, they don't appear in other cutscenes, only appearing in the battle they're in. Yet, they're personable and honorable enough to make you wish that they could have more screentime or prominence. Sometimes, they do get the latter... posthumously.\ |
| 140 | |
| 141 | Aside from their level of sympathy and screen time, another way to differentiate them from a Camus is that they tend to not have a powerful weapon. Their position tends to be not as high as a Camus, so it is more reflected in how their weapon tends to be nothing special, a trait shared with other common bosses. Sure, it makes them easier to fight, but it doesn't diminish the level of sympathy or tragedy.\ |
| 142 | |
| 143 | Like Camus, characters of this archetype tend to not be recruitable. |
| 144 | |
| 145 | ->'''Characters of this archetype:''' Magnus (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]''); Lorenz and Yodel (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Clement, Ishtore and Liza, Ridell ''([[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]])''; Eagler and Uhai (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade Blazing Blade]]''); Shiharam and Hafedd (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]''); Veyona (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Mustafa and Pheros (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Lonato (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'') |
| 146 | ---- |
| 147 | * AntiVillain: Even though they're only one-shot characters, they usually show a sympathetic side, sometimes comparable to a Camus or an Ishtar. |
| 148 | * CrueltyIsTheOnlyOption: Yes, they're sympathetic, but you'll most likely be forced to strike them down and then move on like nothing happened. |
| 149 | * AFatherToHisMen: They're shown to care about the lives of their men and will ensure their lives are saved with their death, especially later ones. Unlike Camus characters, [[HonorBeforeReason who are honorable but actually powerful enough to strike out,]] One-Shot Generals usually fight the heroes because if they disobey their orders, their own men will pay the price, and they don't have enough power to directly disobey. Most of the soldiers fighting under an OSG will remember them fondly. |
| 150 | * PunchClockVillain: They don't hold any ill will toward your army, but if they disobey their superior's orders, they and their men will be punished. |
| 151 | * TropeCodifier: Before ''Genealogy'', examples of this archetype usually only followed the rule of commenting on protecting the lives of their soldiers and generally being expendable. It's only after Ishtore and Liza appeared that the more modern aspects of the archetype were solidified, giving them posthumous characterization and [[AlasPoorVillain sympathy]] (Seliph laments having to kill Ishtore and Liza because he saw them as likable and [[UnholyMatrimony a genuinely loving couple]]; Ishtore was also revealed to be nice toward Tine/Linda). |
| 152 | [[/folder]] |
| 153 | |
| 154 | [[folder:The Murdock]] |
| 155 | Perhaps the least sympathetic of the Noble Enforcers characters (but still more sympathetic than the more evil characters), the Murdock is a high-ranking general in the enemy ranks that might look affable and not [[AffablyEvil being evil about it]], but he doesn't share the doubts and conflicts plaguing either the Camus, Ishtar, or the One-Shot General. He may be a personable fellow out of battle, but when it comes to fighting the war, he steadfastly remains loyal to his nation/liege and does his job of planting himself like a wall between you and his nation/liege most admirably, as an ultimate show of loyalty and the fact that he's a model soldier. Call it BlindObedience or the like, but he has been raised to place a premium value on loyalty. His men are highly motivated, and while he might not be AFatherToHisMen, he wins their loyalty over via strict discipline and proper training. He's decked out with either [[MusclesAreMeaningful powerful muscles]] or heavy armor that makes him a mighty physical fighter; if you face him, you may not feel pity or sadness, but rather an adrenaline rush of fighting for your life, as he is a WorthyOpponent for you to unleash everything you have.\ |
| 156 | |
| 157 | A Murdock is usually encountered rather late in the game and will probably be the second-toughest (or third, if there is a Camus/Ishtar, then they tend to compete for the position) enemy you face before eventually facing the higher level of bad guys, mostly due to the fact that they tend to possess any of the MightyGlacier classes. Their high HP and stats might make you worry about sending in your mages in case they are strong enough to tank the magic and kill off your SquishyWizard.\ |
| 158 | |
| 159 | Named after the high-ranking general of Bern in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]'', who made several appearances prior to his battle to showcase his honorable, strict personality, but otherwise remained loyal to his [[VestigialEmpire fading empire]] due to his own UndyingLoyalty. |
| 160 | |
| 161 | ->'''Characters of this archetype:''' Brian (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Murdock (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade Binding Blade]]''); Brendan (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade Blazing Blade]]''); Dheginsea (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]])''; Cervantes (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Hubert[[labelnote:*]]Only in routes where he isn't recruited, in which he stays loyal to Edelgard until the very end, regardless of how bad things get for the Empire.[[/labelnote]], Dedue and Gilbert[[labelnote:*]]Crimson Flower exclusive, where they stick with the Church of Seiros despite Rhea's increasing insanity without going too overboard[[/labelnote]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''); Abyme (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'') |
| 162 | ---- |
| 163 | * AntiVillain: They're more of a Type I. They don't want to be seen as a conflicted Woobie; they know their role as the antagonist and will stick with it. However, they're still noble warriors without [[NobleDemon going to the extremes of a Michalis]], and could have been perfectly personable if only you were on their side (unfortunately for them, you're not). |
| 164 | * BreakingOldTrends: So far, Hubert is the only character that is a [[SquishyWizard Dark Bishop]] rather than the usual General, or a class that fits a similar purpose like in Dheginsea's case. |
| 165 | * EvilCounterpart: Played with: |
| 166 | ** Murdocks are Evil Counterparts to the good Lorenz, a high-ranking general who realizes the error of his ways and does a late HeelFaceTurn. A Murdock won't do this, because [[MyMasterRightOrWrong his loyalty to his master takes precedence]]. |
| 167 | ** On the other hand, Murdocks can be seen as a Good Counterpart or ALighterShadeOfBlack towards a Jiol-type. Both are imposing and usually [[TinTyrant armored]], but a Murdock displays some off-the-field decency that the {{slimeball}} Jiol totally lacks. |
| 168 | * FourStarBadass: Their ranks are amongst the highest in the enemy army, and they are more than capable of delivering a tough fight. |
| 169 | * LargeAndInCharge: Members of the Murdock archetype use large classes like General and Warrior. Official artwork tends to show them as especially large as well. |
| 170 | * MightyGlacier: That size isn't just for show. RankScalesWithAsskicking often comes into play. |
| 171 | * PromotedToPlayable: ''Three Houses'' has a few cases of playable Murdocks: |
| 172 | ** Dedue is the first Murdock that's actually playable outside of bonus modes, but only if you take the Azure Moon route, and even then, he takes on elements of a Draug. Otherwise, his UndyingLoyalty and tendency to do crazy things to better serve Dimitri without joining you makes him this archetype. |
| 173 | ** Similarly, Gilbert is an older version of the archetype and takes Dedue's place in the Azure Moon route, just in case Dedue wasn't saved from his PlotlineDeath (and even then, he still sticks around). On Crimson Flower, though, he decides to stick with his guns with the Church of Seiros despite Rhea becoming more and more unhinged. |
| 174 | ** Likewise, Hubert mostly is a magical version of Murdock, but only if you take the Crimson Flower route, and even then, he's a DeconstructedCharacterArchetype of Arlen. Any other route, however, he decides to stick with Edelgard regardless of the potential outcome for them. |
| 175 | * PunchClockVillain: Their defining trope. They're fairly affable and professional off the battlefield, but are still willing to commit atrocities in their master's name or defend their master despite knowing their atrocities. |
| 176 | * SternTeacher: Their relationship with their men is strict and professional, whilst simultaneously valuing the lives of their soldiers. As a result, soldiers and commanders serving under them have the same loyalty to their general. |
| 177 | * SympatheticPOV: Being one of the few playable characters of this archetype, Dedue naturally has his reasons for his fanatical loyalty fleshed out the most. As it turns out, his family was wiped out in the genocide of his people, and Dimitri both saved him from being slaughtered like they were and is the most sympathetic of the royal family to the Duscur people's plight, meaning their future would look even bleaker than it already is if something were to happen to him. |
| 178 | * TropeMaker: [[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Brian]], who only appeared in the last scenario [[note]]He is a Master Knight, which is usually a MasterOfAll class with high movement points, but Brian specifically gears himself to be a MightyGlacier on a horse, emphasized with his unique axe Helswath giving him a positively insane +20 Defense and +10 Resistance[[/note]], fighting for nothing more than restoring his house's prestige, wondering whether or not he was fighting for a good cause as he died. Even though Lewyn still called him out on continuing House Dozel's decline, Brian's a lot more {{Anti Villain}}ous than his predecessors (who were purely Jiols). He didn't get to name the archetype due to only having the screentime of a One-Shot General. Murdock would be the first to perfect the formula with extended screentime. |
| 179 | * UndyingLoyalty: This is a Murdock's greatest calling card, a counterpart to Camus' HonorBeforeReason. For Murdocks, steadfast loyalty is the greatest moral value there is, and you can't convince them otherwise. |
| 180 | * WorthyOpponent: He may view the player as this, nothing more, nothing less. Meta-wise, he'll be a very tough boss that requires better yet fair effort to defeat. |
| 181 | [[/folder]] |
| 182 | |
| 183 | !The Vile Opportunists |
| 184 | Unlike the protagonists, who wish for a better world, or the true antagonists, who [[VisionaryVillain want to create a new world order]], these villains live in the grey of the moment. For some, the chaos of war has given them an [[OpportunisticBastard opportunity to seize political power, prestige, or wealth]]. For others, it's just an outlet to express their inner vices. |
| 185 | * The Michalis: {{Noble Demon}}s who will commit wicked acts to preserve themselves, their people, or their way of life. |
| 186 | * The Jiol: Corrupt, cowardly politicians who only care about themselves. Often Generals prone to backstabbing. |
| 187 | * The Brute |
| 188 | ** The Kempf: Narcissists consumed by [[SevenDeadlySins wrath or lust]], who live out their power fantasies on the battlefield. Typically the bad guys' [[PsychoForHire psychotic attack dog]]. |
| 189 | ** The Black Knight: An evolution of the Kempf who trades narcissism and full-on psychosis for [[EnigmaticMinion a hidden agenda]] and a desire to find a WorthyOpponent, no matter who they have to cut down to do it. They tend to be TheDreaded who wear [[MalevolentMaskedMen some form of helmet or mask]] and are known only by titles rather than actual names. |
| 190 | |
| 191 | [[folder:The Michalis]] |
| 192 | Michalis is something of a foil to Camus. Whereas Camus is a noble AntiVillain, Michalis is almost always the straight-up villain. These characters are driven by ambition and will do ''[[TheUnfettered anything]]'' to achieve their ends, including dishonorable tactics or being as indecent as possible. Mostly part of the nobility, they can be very haughty on their own and don't come off as decent outside of battle, unlike a Camus. However, they do share one thing with Camus: besides ambition, they also at the very least have their national pride. [[AHeroToHisHometown Most of their actions are also driven by the desire to make]] ''[[AHeroToHisHometown their]]'' [[AHeroToHisHometown people prosper]] (they couldn't care less about people outside their nation); usually, their people have gone through some sort of suffering and they would gladly do anything to alleviate that, [[TheScapegoat including being hated by the very people they're trying to save]]. In other words, they are the NobleDemon of the ''Fire Emblem'' series. How much it saves them from being unsympathetic varies, but it certainly adds VillainousValor points that makes them likable as villains, and if lucky, they may even [[DeathEqualsRedemption find redemption just as karma catches up to them]] or become an EleventhHourRanger. |
| 193 | |
| 194 | ->'''Characters of this archetype:''' Michalis (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]''); Arvis[[labelnote:*]]Generation 1 only[[/labelnote]] and Travant (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Saias (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Naesala (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Takumi [[note]]only in ''Conquest''[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Berkut (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Shadows of Valentia]]''); Claude[[note]]Only in the Crimson Flower and Scarlet Blaze routes; on the former, he's a unique example of a heroic Michalis, as all his actions are purely defensive and are solely focused on ensuring the Alliance can survive a war they really have no stake in, while on the latter his Michalis side only comes out if you kill Jeralt, leading Byleth to convince him to betray Edelgard to make his own power grab.[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemWarriorsThreeHopes Warriors: Three Hopes]]''); Alternate Céline and Alternate Alcryst (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]''); Eitri (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemHeroes Heroes]]'') |
| 195 | |
| 196 | ->'''Characters that only have elements of this archetype''': Caellach[[note]]His particular ambition lines up with the usual Michalis: To rule his own country and manage it the way he likes. Additionally, he possesses some of Michalis' ruthless charisma, and he's also shown to [[EvenEvilHasStandards have some standards in regards of his compatriots (Valter and Riev, respectively)]]. Unfortunately, he's just a mere sellsword/mercenary without a nation to actually claim for his own (so any of his ambitions of kingdom-ruling only exist in his dreams), which rules him out.[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]'') |
| 197 | ---- |
| 198 | * AmbitionIsEvil: What makes them a bad guy and an effective one too. They have ambitions (usually for their nation) and stop at nothing to achieve them. |
| 199 | * BeautyEqualsGoodness: These are the antagonists that are most likely to look good. And they're also the ones who get noble or redeeming qualities, even if they stay antagonistic. This occasionally opens up a chance to join your team too. |
| 200 | * DarkMessiah: To their nation, they may look like or fancy themselves as this, doing everything they can to save their nation. The response from their citizens may vary from accepting to being outright disgusted. |
| 201 | * DeconstructedCharacterArchetype: |
| 202 | ** Berkut deconstructs the Michalis archetype by showing what happens when one's ambitions are taken to the extreme. He starts off the game a smug antagonist who is sure of his goals and set in his way of thinking like most Michalises tend to be. However, as he loses to Alm and his allies, he slowly begins losing his mental fortitude as a result of being unable to understand how someone like him could lose to a "mere peasant", becoming more unhinged and unstable as he tries to defeat Alm and prove himself as deserving of the throne of Rigel. He reaches his lowest point when he learns his uncle, his father figure, never intended to make him the Emperor and Alm was his son, who was intended to take the throne. Having his entire life's goal and purpose [[AllForNothing ripped out from under him]], Berkut becomes desperate for the chance to kill Alm and gain power that he sacrifices his fiancé to Duma in a fit of madness at the chance of power to defeat Alm, becoming a shell of his former self who only cares for power. |
| 203 | ** Claude in the Crimson Flower route is what you get if you put a Michalis in a more realistic war setting. His primary goal is the survival of his nation, and while he is willing to fight dirty, he doesn't stoop to the level of the other examples and is ultimately less a threat than other players in the setting, ironically making him [[TokenGoodTeammate the first heroic Michalis]] via deconstruction. He also willfully self-parodies this trope, and on both Crimson Flower and Verdant Wind admits he's a similar take on Edelgard. [[spoiler:As he's capable of surviving all four routes, it's possible he does still get to help his people, alongside whatever winning faction the protagonist chose.]] Though, ''Three Hopes'' [[spoiler:shows how in certain circumstances things can go very wrong, with Claude becoming more of a traditional Michalis]]. |
| 204 | * {{Foil}}: The Michalis is usually considered the traditional foil to the Camus, and to an extent, the Ishtar and Murdock as well. While both archetypes love their country as their sympathy points, the Michalis are much more ambitious in that and usually are willing to stoop even lower than the standards of decency in order to achieve their grey-yet-sympathetic goal, whereas a Camus/Ishtar/Murdock [[EvenEvilHasStandards will not even try trespass it thanks to their own standards.]] As such, the Michalis is the archetype more easily identified as villains. |
| 205 | * NobleDemon: They're assholes, yes, but they can possess some humane and noble qualities. |
| 206 | * RankScalesWithAsskicking: Amongst the more grey antagonists, the Michalis usually possesses the highest rank and considered the most dangerous, even more than the Jiol or the Kempf. Only the Black Knight may challenge him in terms of sheer power, but they choose to stay beneath the spotlight, allowing a Michalis to openly show that they're the most dangerous. |
| 207 | * TheScapegoat: For a lot of them, they are willing to go down in history as monsters as long as their people prosper in the future. And they willingly act like one too. |
| 208 | * TheUnfettered: A standout trait and key in what makes them so dangerous: Their ultimate goals and motivations can be admirable or not, but they are all willing to perform some utterly heinous actions to reach them. |
| 209 | [[/folder]] |
| 210 | |
| 211 | [[folder:The Jiol]] |
| 212 | The Jiol is a seemingly minor antagonist character that has been part of the franchise since the beginning. Much like Michalis, they will do anything to get what they want. However, the Jiol lacks the charisma and valor of a Michalis, and are usually [[HateSink designed to be disliked]]. Just like Michalis, Jiol has a presence in the political world of the verse and is probably much more invested in politics than battle. However, they are also often shown as an example of the corrupting influence of power to contrast with the more heroic Lords or even the Michalis. Jiol characters usually begin as allies of sorts to the Lord, but the moment TheEmpire offers them more power and influence, they waste little time in accepting it.\ |
| 213 | |
| 214 | They do possess an imposing presence when they actually go to battle, usually represented as a General or a similar promoted class (though there are some exceptions). Like Michalis, they are never FinalBoss material, but they often serve as a ClimaxBoss or a DiscOneFinalBoss. |
| 215 | |
| 216 | ->'''Characters of this archetype:''' Jiol and Morzas (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]''); Desaix (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]'' and its remake); Lang (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Chagall, Lombard, Reptor, Danann, and Bloom (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Raydrick (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Erik, Arcard, and Roartz (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Lundgren and Darin (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Orson (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones Sacred Stones]]''); Ludveck (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Gangrel (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Kotaro (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Cornelia and Acheron (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemWarriorsThreeHopes Warriors: Three Hopes]]''); Oskar (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemWarriors Warriors]]''); Shahid and Duke Aegir (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemWarriorsThreeHopes Warriors: Three Hopes]]'') |
| 217 | ---- |
| 218 | * AristocratsAreEvil: Serves as a way to show the dark side of aristocracy in the ''Fire Emblem'' universe, contrasting with your army's 'good aristocracy'. PlayedWith by Orson; he's more of a knight than an aristocrat, but after betraying Renais, he temporarily becomes the king of Renais and runs the country into the ground. |
| 219 | * BadBoss: As a rule, they tend to be tyrants, making the commonfolk suffer. When they fall and the heroes liberate their land, the people will rejoice that they're finally free from tyranny. Moreso if the land happened to be the Lord's homeland, which usually triggers RightfulKingReturns rejoicing. |
| 220 | * CompositeCharacter: Cornelia is an attempt to combine a Jiol archetype with a Witch archetype, being that she is the one who sold out her part of the Kingdom of Faehrgus to the Adrestian Empire to save her own hide and rule, she's highly antagonistic toward Dimitri, and is an older woman to boot. There are some hints that she [[spoiler:may be a member of "those who slither in the dark" (which may be a reason why she's a partial Witch), but it's never confirmed outright in the original game. ''Three Hopes'' confirms that she's indeed an Agarthan.]] |
| 221 | * DiscOneFinalBoss: They may serve as the ClimaxBoss for an earlier arc, but after that, it's time to move on to the next, greater arc. |
| 222 | * EvilOldFolks: Most Jiols are middle-aged, with the exception of Ludveck and Shahid. |
| 223 | * FaceHeelTurn: They tend to start as some sort of ally of the good guys, but then betray them for [[EvilIsPetty petty reasons]], either out of [[DirtyCoward cowardice]] or a desire for personal power. Orson is even playable for one scenario before he betrays Renais. |
| 224 | * HateSink: Responsible for a lot of atrocities that befall the heroes, you're supposed to dislike these guys and want them to die. Them being stereotypical 'evil noble' characters also enforces this as well. |
| 225 | ** Averted ''big time'' by Orson, who is at least somewhat pitiable, since he only betrayed his homeland to Grado because his wife's death drove him into DespairEventHorizon, and he jumped at the chance of having his dear wife resurrected. His poor rulership of Renais is due to him ignoring everything else aside from spending time with his wife, and his death is depicted in [[AlasPoorVillain a very tragic way]]. |
| 226 | ** While Darin also starts up being built like this, he is also a subverted case at the end, as it is revealed that his gullibleness and his lust for power made it easy for Ephidel to corrupt him, and was just [[UnwittingPawn nothing more than a puppet whose strings are pulled]] by the true villains of the game, as mentioned by the protagonists after they killed him. [[spoiler:Even worse, he is also one of the people that Nergal brought back as a morph, which horrifies the protagonists.]] |
| 227 | * LargeAndInCharge: The earlier versions of this archetype are of the General class (or Baron, in case of those from the Jugdral games), decked out with big armor to compensate for their smugness. Morzas in ''Shadow Dragon'' isn't armored, but turns into a large Mage Dragon. Cornelia and Shahid are the only exceptions by the former not being large, making up for it by being a high-ranking CourtMage, and the latter being a Wyvern Lord. |
| 228 | * TheQuisling: When the Empire rolls in, the Jiol is often the first to sell out their former allies and sucking up to the Empire for survival, political power, or what have you. |
| 229 | * RankScalesWithAsskicking: Although they may be [[DirtyCoward sniveling cowards]], they will not go down without a fight when cornered. Usually.[[note]]Acheron, if fought on Crimson Flower, will hide behind Judith's army and make a break for it the moment the player's army takes the advantage.[[/note]] |
| 230 | * SleazyPolitician: If not being an outright CorruptPolitician, power in politics is one of the things they seek. |
| 231 | * TheSmurfettePrinciple: Cornelia is so far the only female Jiol archetype character, thus she's not too old. Had it not been for her political involvement, she would've been a straight-up Witch. |
| 232 | * SoleSurvivor: There are multiple examples. |
| 233 | ** Downplayed with Ludveck: whilst he never dies, he is sent to prison and unmentioned for the rest of the story. |
| 234 | ** Likewise downplayed with Gangrel: he can recruited in a [=SpotPass=] paralogue, but unless he's romanced by a female Robin, his ending states he [[DeadlyDistantFinale dies shortly after the events of the game]]. |
| 235 | ** Acheron is not a required target in the Crimson Flower route in ''Three Houses'', and he usually [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere runs like hell]] before you have a chance to even fight him, though it's unknown what happens to him afterward. |
| 236 | ** Cornelia is also TheUnfought on both Verdant Wind and Silver Snow routes. |
| 237 | [[/folder]] |
| 238 | |
| 239 | [[folder:The Brute]] |
| 240 | !!The Kempf |
| 241 | Not every notable enemy holds a high ranking in the army. Some of them may be mercenaries, hired swords, or even generals on the level of a Camus or lower. They also possess either great battle lust or overly high ambition to match most other villains, even Michalis characters, and they resort to despicable actions just to show them off, without any care for how many will suffer because of it. It's what happens when you take a Michalis, drop them a few ranks, and then remove their noble qualities (for example, the love for their country). They may technically be JustFollowingOrders, but it doesn't make them any less despicable and any former subordinates (who survive) may comment on how hellish it was to work under them. Many Kempf-types are unsympathetic {{Ax Craz|y}}ies that make the player wonder just ''how evil'' an empire has to be to allow psychopaths like them into their ranks. |
| 242 | |
| 243 | ->'''Characters of this archetype:''' Kempf (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Narcian (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Ursula, Pascal and Jerme (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Caellach and Valter (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Jarod and Valtome (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Clarisse (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem New Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Iago and Hans (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Fernand and Slayde [[note]]In ''Gaiden'', he was an unimportant one-shot boss; he is retroactively given this characterization in ''Shadows of Valentia''.[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Shadows of Valentia]]''); Kronya and Metodey (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemWarriorsThreeHopes Warriors: Three Hopes]]''); Alternate Fogado (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'') |
| 244 | |
| 245 | ->'''Characters that only have elements of this archetype''': Andrey and Scipio[[note]]Andrey can be said to be a predecessor to Kempf, appearing earlier, and their role is being the smug, brutish, ruthless attack dog of the Granvalle Empire (and him having a lesser Holy Blood signify his lower rank, where the higher ranked antagonists have major Holy Bloods). But even so, like Brian about Murdocks, Andrey has a very limited screentime, thus not enough time to show how psychotic and crazy he is and how he is antagonizing everyone even within his own rank with his own unpleasantness (the best he could get was a single disgusted remark by Lombard about how he's eager enough to commit {{Patricide}}). His son Scipio has an even less screentime and characterization except being a GenerationXerox to Andrey. And while ruthless, he also isn't overly vain and having too much high opinions of himself, he's just doing a job that he takes wholeheartedly with his own ruthlessness. It's why Kempf is the one who names the archetype.[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''), Griss [[note]]While he has the blatant AxCrazy requirement of a Kempf, he's generally more lucid, not interested in moving up ranks and not showing how messed up the Four Hounds are with him being there. He never exaggerates his insults towards anyone and even gets a sympathetic death.[[/note]](''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'') |
| 246 | ---- |
| 247 | * AmbitionIsEvil: Like the Michalis, many Kempfs are only concerned with moving up in the ranks (but [[ItsAllAboutMe without the same loyalty to their lord and/or country]]) and will stop at nothing to get their way. |
| 248 | * AxCrazy: A lot of them are really unhinged (though some at least make the effort to hide it), and a few, like Valter and Hans, get even worse as the story goes on. |
| 249 | * BadBoss: Even more so than Michalis, if they're allowed to command others. Anyone serving under them may comment on their boss' lack of leadership skills. There were only few exceptions: |
| 250 | ** Jarod, who displays some VillainousValor and proves to be AFatherToHisMen when his back's against the wall (although before this, he [[YouHaveFailedMe openly murdered one of his men for failing to follow orders]]). |
| 251 | ** Fernand, who can actually be decent to his men, but just as long as they fit his views of real men (nobles, whereas commoners will get his ire). |
| 252 | * BloodKnight: A lot of times, these guys just ''love'' fighting and slaughtering anyone they come across. |
| 253 | * TheBrute: They're the main muscle of the group. |
| 254 | * CompositeCharacter: |
| 255 | ** In ''Sacred Stones'', Caellach actually combines several traits of a traditional Michalis. While he's selfish, ruthless and [[LackOfEmpathy lacks empathy]], he does not lack a code of honor, being disgusted with Valter (the more traditional sadistic Kempf) and Riev. And while he only cares for himself, he is also the only one to showcase his ambition to move up ranks and eventually become a king on his own[[note]]If he is already a king or high ranking noble by the time the game started, Caellach would've been a full blown Michalis than a Kempf.[[/note]]. Therefore, while Valter has Michalis' class, Caellach has parts of his mentality. Additionally, Caellach is AffablyEvil and he has [[EvenEvilHasStandards standards that he wouldn't even cross]], which also made himself [[ALighterShadeOfBlack look not so bad]] especially when compared to Valter. |
| 256 | ** In ''Three Houses'', Kronya is both a Kempf (from her overall craziness and bloodthirst) as well as a Witch due to being a member of "those who slither in the dark", which means [[spoiler:her past incarnation, Monica, used to be more normal, although it is made clear that they are different people, particularly in ''Three Hopes'' where Monica is SparedByTheAdaptation]]. |
| 257 | * DeconstructedCharacterArchetype: Fernand. He used to be a somewhat elitist, but still honorable and kind person, who wanted to help people. However, the deaths of his family, including his two younger siblings, caused him to grow to hate the lower class to the point of being willing to defect from his best friend's resistance organization to the enemy side out of sheer hatred. After becoming Berkut's NumberTwo, he lets his ego and classist views blind him to how wrong he is, and when he gets fatally wounded by the newly turned Witch Rinea, he [[DiedInYourArmsTonight dies in Clive's arms]] [[HeelRealization realizing his hatred and callous disregard for others costed him the chance to actually make the world better]]. Ultimately, his anger and brute like role didn't bring him joy like he thought, just death. |
| 258 | * FemalesAreMoreInnocent: Until [[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Kronya]], if the Kempf is a female, they're usually portrayed a lot more sympathetically: |
| 259 | ** Ursula does not overly antagonize the team, she just appears in the exact moment she needs to act antagonistically (attempting to kill Nino). But aside of that, she has her own personal honor code and even gives an item to the team if visited to a certain village. Her inherent psychosis is what prevents her to become a full-blown Ishtar. |
| 260 | ** Clarisse has a DarkAndTroubledPast and it turns out that she's also gaslighted to be a psychotic person by the person she admires the most, since she's also part of the Eremiya archetype (and so is her gaslighter). [[AlasPoorVillain She ends up having a very pitiful and sympathetic death]] when compared to other Kempfs. |
| 261 | * HateSink: Quite a lot of members of this archetype are quite despicable without redeeming traits, who have open sadism and disregard for anyone else's lives, and are designed to make the players want to kill them. On the other hand, there are some who are more complicated and downplays, subverts or even averts this, such as Ursula, Caellach, and Clarisse. |
| 262 | * JustFollowingOrders: If a Kempf [[CardCarryingVillain even bothers to "justify" their actions]], they'll try to HandWave their atrocities with this line. |
| 263 | * {{Narcissist}}: If they're not either ugly or AxCrazy, they're probably incredibly self-absorbed, making them an inverse of BeautyEqualsGoodness (such as Kempf, Narcian, and Slayde). |
| 264 | * PsychoForHire: They're basically the bad guys' primary attack dog. They may try to excuse themselves as a PunchClockVillain, but their brutality often proves otherwise. |
| 265 | * TheRival: Chances are good that the Kempf will have this type of relationship with the Camus: |
| 266 | ** The original Kempf hated Reinhardt to the point of taking out his frustration on Reinhardt's sister Olwen, leading to her eventual HeelFaceTurn. |
| 267 | ** Narcian was by far the most egotistical of Bern's Wyvern Generals, putting him in direct contrast to the more honorable Galle. |
| 268 | ** In Eirika's route, Valter kills Glen under the pretense of executing him for defying orders, when in reality he merely wanted Glen out of the way. |
| 269 | ** While Zelgius falls under a different archetype than the Camus, Valtome's animosity towards him otherwise fits quite well. |
| 270 | ** While Iago is always an antagonist regardless of the route you take, his attitude towards the Nohr siblings fits this part especially well in Birthright, given Xander's status as an AntiVillain in that route. |
| 271 | * SmallNameBigEgo: They may not be as high on the SortingAlgorithmOfEvil as a Camus or a Murdock, but they [[SmugSnake sure love to show off their supposed superiority over others]]...until you start beating them and their previous bravado evaporates. |
| 272 | * TheSmurfettePrinciple: Only three of them so far are females: |
| 273 | ** Ursula might be the first female Kempf. She's an assassin who wants to get more power for the sake of being always "perfect". That said, she ''does'' have an honor code. |
| 274 | ** Clarisse is most likely one the few female members of this archetype, being a very loyal and ''psychotic'' underling of Eremiya ready to do ''anything'' to get more power and earn her approval. |
| 275 | ** Kronya is a psychotic and bloodthirsty member of "those who slither in the dark" [[spoiler:with a rank low enough that Solon sees it as okay to just sacrifice her life for his own plans]]. |
| 276 | ---- |
| 277 | |
| 278 | !!The Black Knight |
| 279 | Named after the armored knight from the Tellius games, the Black Knight is an antagonist archetype who is less concerned with politics or status than other villains, and acts more {{enigmatic|Minion}} than blatantly evil. They're usually {{Blood Knight}}s, but unlike the sadistic Kempf, they often fight to find a WorthyOpponent. To make themselves look more [[TheDreaded threatening]], they usually don something to cover their heads and conceal their identities, be it a mask or a helmet.\ |
| 280 | |
| 281 | Gameplay-wise, while these characters eventually meet their end (if they do anyway), they have a tendency to appear in the early stages of the game, shocking the player as they're [[FinalBossPreview way more powerful than any character]] at that point in the game, and sending anyone against them early on tends to be a death sentence. However, as the game progresses, your army will gain sufficient strength to finally face a Black Knight head-on. It still won't be a cakewalk; it's just that they finally recognize you as a WorthyOpponent and will fight to the fullest. |
| 282 | |
| 283 | ->'''Characters of this archetype:''' Black Knight (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]''); Legion (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem New Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Sumeragi (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Death Knight/Jeritza (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''); Lif (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemHeroes Heroes]]'') |
| 284 | |
| 285 | ->'''Characters that only have elements of this archetype''': Hardin (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]'')[[note]]While he is the BigBad, thus not fitting being the 'powerful enigmatic grunt' (him being possessed has been an open knowledge to the game, even if his RedEyesTakeWarning may also be a 'precursor' to the Black Knight's tendency of "Cover your head and identity with a garment, like helmet"), it's worth noting that the original Black Knight's tendency to be TheDreaded is based on Hardin's first appearance as an enemy, where [[AdvancingBossOfDoom he's practically invincible thanks to the Darksphere and the goal of the map he's in is to take the throne while avoiding him.]][[/note]]; Ishtar (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]'')[[note]]She's similar to Hardin beforehand as she's chiefly known as the sympathetic villain without any enigma and also lacks a head-covering garment. However, she also has Hardin's AdvancingBossOfDoom trait in her debut at Chapter 8: Coming immediately equipped by the Mjolnnir tome and more likely to attack and kill one of your allies (rather than staying holed up in a castle) unless they can somehow dodge and survive her spell. She is actually killable, but it requires luck and very specific character at the time (either Shannan or Ares, who also has Holy Weapons), or the player can just stall for time and run away until Julius drags her off from the battlefield.[[/note]]; Galzus (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]'')[[note]]He ''seems'' like this at first, as he serves as TheChampion to Raydrik, acts as an AdvancingBossOfDoom over the course of several chapters, and is TheDreaded even to the game's (other) Gotoh archetype, Ced. [[SubvertedTrope However]], he's actually a HitmanWithAHeart, and pulls a HeelFaceTurn the moment he speaks with his long-lost daughter, Mareeta. Additionally, he doesn't have a mask or headwear to conceal his face[[/note]]; Bertram (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'')[[note]]In spite of being an enigmatic brute and BlackKnight who is a very strong foe, you only face him ''once'' in ''Path of Radiance''. You ''do'' encounter him at the beginning of ''Radiant Dawn'' as a preview of his appearance during the endgame to challenge Geoffrey, but you ''don't'' face him during a boss battle (the fight happens off-screen) and he pulls a HeelFaceTurn right after his return. That said, he's TheDreaded, his identity is a secret for most of the Tellius games and is ''arguably'' a recurring antagonist during part 4 of ''Radiant Dawn''.[[/note]]; Byleth (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemWarriorsThreeHopes Warriors: Three Hopes]]'')[[note]]While Byleth acts as TheDreaded and seemingly invincible foe of TheHero, they're a ''mercenary'', not a ''knight''. Also, they don't have a mask or headwear concealing their face, and like Galzus, can pull a HeelFaceTurn.[[/note]] |
| 286 | ---- |
| 287 | * AdvancingBossOfDoom: One of their chief element is that they're this boss who will more likely advance on you on early stages in a slower pace so you can outrun him (or just stays in place so you can ignore them). But, [[BullyingADragon if you try to provoke them at this stage, then they'll easily make a mincemeat out of your unit.]] |
| 288 | * BlackKnight: They are enigmatic figures clad in dark armor who conceal their identities with masks. The codifier for this archetype is even literally called the Black Knight. |
| 289 | * BloodKnight: They are more selective than the Kempfs, but it's clear that they very much enjoy a good fight, especially when [[WorthyOpponent their opponents are worthy of their caliber]]. |
| 290 | * CompositeCharacter: This archetype combines traits of Kempf with traits of Murdock or Camus (and a head-covering garment), resulting in an enigmatic [[TheBrute Brute]] who has a thrill for battle but does not kill indiscriminately, more or less acting like a powerful enigma in search of a WorthyOpponent who doesn't care for materialistic self-advancement like army ranking or wealth. This is shown somewhat in Legion, but more blatantly in the Death Knight. |
| 291 | * DeconstructedCharacterArchetype: The Death Knight/Jeritza not only presents a much darker take on the enigmatic and unpredictable nature of the Black Knight archetype in his support conversations, but also serves as a deconstruction of the Brute archetype as a whole. On the surface, the Death Knight has the personality of a Kempf with the appearance of a Black Knight, being an AxCrazy BloodKnight in service to a BigBad, but preferring a specific challenge. However, instead of using this to make him a simple HateSink like most Kempfs, his psychotic actions are shown as symptoms of a legitimate mental illness. [[spoiler:Jeritza, previously known as Emile, developed a SplitPersonality that [[JekyllAndHyde he treats as a second person]] as a result of years of abuse by his father and finally, learning that his father intended to [[RoyalInbreeding forcefully make his step-daughter, Mercedes his wife to make more Crest-bearing children]]. This caused Emile to snap and kill his father and the rest of the children of House Bartels. Not only does Jeritza struggle to keep this side of him in check, but not even Mercedes is safe from the Death Knight, despite Jeritza creating the persona to protect her and their mother, to make sure their escape from Baron Bartels was safe. Jeritza works with the Adrestian Empire and seeks challenging opponents not only as thanks for giving him a place to belong and a new identity, but to keep the Death Knight's bloodlust focused and prevent him from going on killing sprees, but even Edelgard doesn't have complete control over this side of him. Even when he's your ally (a Crimson Flower exclusive), he tries to socially distance himself from others because of this, and is only able to support with four characters: Byleth, his sister Mercedes, his childhood friend Constance, and Bernadetta, a fellow trauma victim. He doesn't even have supports with Edelgard herself. He's only able to overcome this in his paired endings with Byleth or Mercedes, the latter in which he willingly submits himself to therapy.]] |
| 292 | * TheDreaded: Chances are if they enter the battle... you know the shit is going to hit the fan if you ever try to confront them without preparation. It usually ends with death, so your current option is to just run away and avoid confrontation. |
| 293 | * EnigmaticMinion: A Black Knight is appropriately shrouded in mystery and follows their own orders, which makes them even more unpredictable and dangerous. |
| 294 | * PromotedToPlayable: The Death Knight is the first straightforward playable member of the Brute archetype. |
| 295 | * RedemptionEarnsLife: The Death Knight is the only Brute who can truly redeem himself, and the only one who can live through his story in Crimson Flower route. |
| 296 | * SoleSurvivor: The Death Knight is the only Brute who can live to see the end of his natural lifespan, and only on the Crimson Flower route. |
| 297 | [[/folder]] |
| 298 | |
| 299 | !Evil's Inner Circle |
| 300 | These are the highest-level antagonists. They're beyond the moral conflicts of the Noble Enforcers, and the political games of the Opportunists. They want to totally upset the world, and will invoke monsters, dragons, and gods to do it. |
| 301 | |
| 302 | * The Monster Corps: Zombie-like enemies summoned by the main antagonists that start rare, but slowly become the entirety of the enemy army. |
| 303 | * The Deadlords: Warriors ReforgedIntoAMinion, they often serve as the last bastion of defense against the Heroes, and some of them may be either dead player units, or antagonists that were killed but brought back to life. |
| 304 | * The Hardin: Someone with a personal character flaw or an [[RaisedAsAHost unfortunate lineage]] that has made them susceptible to DemonicPossession. May overlap with any other archetype after becoming a vessel for the true evil. |
| 305 | * The Dark Lady: Hand-picked [[MsFanservice beautiful women]] who execute the will of the true evil. Usually in charge of luring in partners, commanding soldiers, and discarding both [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness when they are no longer useful]]. Often an EvilMatriach. |
| 306 | ** The Witch: Evil by choice and without any remorse or with origins that did not provide adequate sympathy, a [[HateSink despicable]] [[WitchWithACapitalB witch]] meant to avert FemalesAreMoreInnocent. |
| 307 | ** The Eremiya: A twisted version of a once virtuous lady, [[BrainwashedAndCrazy brainwashed or coerced]] into embracing the philosophies of the Evil's Inner Circle. |
| 308 | * The Dark Wizard |
| 309 | ** The Gharnef: A SorcerousOverlord puppet master who seeks to resurrect the Medeus. |
| 310 | ** The Smug Minister: An EvilSorceror similar to a Gharnef, but lacking in competence or power. Usually an adviser to another villain, or a pawn in someone else's games. |
| 311 | * The Rudolf: A TinTyrant that commands TheEmpire. May have allied with the true evil as a means to an end. |
| 312 | * The Medeus: A dragon or god that threatens the entire world. May be so powerful [[AlmightyIdiot they've lost their senses]]. |
| 313 | |
| 314 | [[folder:The Monster Corps]] |
| 315 | The Monster Corps are the undead rank and file of the true enemy, often conjured by magic from the Medeus or the Dark Wizard. Some may be conjured from pure dark magic to take forms of monsters classes like revenants, mogalls, and bonewalkers. Others may be refined to allow for regular classes with zombiefied features. The more magic is put into them, the more powerful and human they become, up to manifesting as the Deadlords. |
| 316 | |
| 317 | ->'''Characters of this archetype''': Terrors (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]''), War Dragons (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''), Morphs (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''), Monsters (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''), Feral Ones (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''), The Risen (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''), The Faceless and The Vallites (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''), Demonic Beasts (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''), The Corrupted (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'') |
| 318 | |
| 319 | * CameBackWrong: Like full Deadlords but even more so. If they are resurrected usually means they're basically moving lifeless husks. A horrifying example occurs in ''Sacred Stones'' when Orson's wife is "brought back" by Riev, but can't even form full thoughts and sentences. Ephraim puts her down a second time. |
| 320 | * LevelGrinding: Can be endlessly fought in games with grinding mechanics. They often show up in skirmishes on old maps, or in replayable dungeons. They may even have a dedicated BonusDungeon or a PeninsulaOfPowerLeveling DLC where you're guaranteed to face them. |
| 321 | * OurDemonsAreDifferent: They can take the form of various monsters like zombies, skeletons, giant eyeballs, and werewolves among other mythological beasts. The most refined versions are human (or dragon) and use regular classes. |
| 322 | * ReplacementMooks: By the final chapters they may they make up the entirety of the enemy army, replacing all but the named characters ([[CameBackStrong and sometimes even them]]). |
| 323 | * SnowballingThreat: They show up in a one off early chapter as the heroes are still concerned with bandits and low level members of the enemy army. By the end of the game they become more common, powerful, and versatile. |
| 324 | * TechnicallyLivingZombie: Occasionally they may still be technically alive, but [[BrainwashedAndCrazy drugged]] or [[TheSoulless damned]] to enhance their powers at the cost of free will. There have been cases where this process can be reversed. |
| 325 | * WeHaveReserves: The evil forces can essentially conjure them endlessly. Summoners [[GameplayAndStoryIntegration can create new ones every turn in-game.]] |
| 326 | |
| 327 | [[/folder]] |
| 328 | |
| 329 | [[folder:The Deadlords]] |
| 330 | The Deadlords often serve as the undead elite force of the villain group. While their origins vary, they all share one thing in common: They were once dead, but were resurrected by the group to serve as mostly the last line of defense against the Hero's army. They're often the highest form of Monster Corp magic to the point that they might look like normal humans and may even have a semblance of freewill. Since they're faced together, expect a tough fight against them, especially if they're mandatory. |
| 331 | |
| 332 | ->'''Characters of this archetype''': Duma's Witches [[note]]Marla, Hestia, Rinea (though Rinea is not fought with the others)[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]'') Deadlords [[note]]Mus, Bovis, Tigris, Lepus, Draco, Anguilla, Equus, Ovis, Simia, Gallus, Canis, Porcus[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]], [[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''[[note]]Only six appear in the game[[/note]], ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''), Nergal's Morphs [[note]]Lloyd, Linus, Ursula, Brendan, Jerme, Uhai, Kenneth, Darin[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''), Vallite Servants [[note]]Arete, Mikoto, Sumeragi, Scarlet (All four are both ''Revelations'' and ''Heirs of Fate'' only), ''the entirety of the First Generation'' (''Heirs of Fate'' only)[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''), Ten Elites [[note]]Blaiddyd, Riegan, Lamine, Goneril, Charon, Fraldarius, Gloucester, Dominic, Gautier, and Daphnel, Verdant Wind only[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''), Alternate Royals[[labelnote:*]]Alfred, Céline, Diamant, Alcryst, Ivy, Hortensia, Timerra, and Fogado (All are ''Fell Xenologue'' only)[[/labelnote]][[note]]They are all fought once (or in Fogado's case, twice) before the final Xenologue, when they are fought as a group.[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'') |
| 333 | |
| 334 | ->'''Character that only has elements of this archetype''': Corrupted Monarchs [[labelnote:*]]Corrupted Morion, Corrupted Hyacinth, Corrupted Lumera[[/labelnote]][[note]]While they are undead, these three are never fought together. Also, Corrupted Morion and Corrupted Hyacinth are fought several chapters too early, as deadlords are usually fought a few chapters before the endgame chapter (or are fought in the endgame chapter itself). Corrupted Lumera, on the other hand, is at least fought in the second last chapter of the game, but she is still fought independently.[[/note]], the Dark Emblems[[labelnote:*]]Shadow Dragon, War Father, Dark God, Dark Bishop, Demon Dragon, Dark Druid, Demon King, Mad King, Judgment, Despair, Mad Dragon, and Liberation King[[/labelnote]] [[note]]There are twelve of them wielded by undead forces and are used as the last line of defense by Sombron against the heroes, and there is ambiguity about wheter they are the original villains reforged into Emblem form or the same as the heroic Emblems being echoes of what was, but since Emblems are at most immortal and they aren't fought directly, they do not qualify, and the corrupted that they are each given to are not specially named or indicated to be noteworthy among the corrupted despite speaking which makes them decidedly non-elite.[[/note]], and Seven Emblem Bracelets[[labelnote:*]]Tiki, Hector, Veronica, Soren, Camilla, Chrom/Robin, and Edelgard/Dimitri/Claude[[/labelnote]] [[note]]They are all wielded by the alternate royals in Xenologue 6, with all of them being fought together with Fell Rafal, but just like the Dark Emblems, Emblems are at most immortal and they aren't fought directly, striking them out as qualifying for this.[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'') |
| 335 | ---- |
| 336 | * BackFromTheDead: They were resurrected by the villains to serve them. |
| 337 | * BossBonanza: They are often faced in groups. |
| 338 | * BreakingOldTrends: Most Deadlords usually cannot even speak, all hopes for their characterization lie from their past histories. As of the moment they're revived, they're basically glorified EliteMooks. The Alternate Royals in ''Engage'', however, can talk and exhibit personalities different from their original counterparts, almost as if they're {{Evil Counterpart}}s of the main timeline royalties. |
| 339 | * CameBackStrong: If they were a former boss that had to be fought during the storyline, it can be this, the most notable example being Raydrik, who gains Wrath as Deadlord Mus, and Nergal's Morphs have notably improved stats compared to when they were fought as bosses[[note]]this includes Brendan, as while he is TheUnfought beyond his morph, he logically couldn't be as strong as the other morphs, since he loses to Sonia (and the battle obeyed normal combat mechanics)[[/note]]. |
| 340 | * CameBackWrong: That being said, their resurrection came at the cost of most likely their free will, as they are basically moving lifeless husks. |
| 341 | * GutPunch: If the player-controlled units were among the Deadlords, they're mostly an additional middle finger as a reminder of how they couldn't protect them in a game with {{Permadeath}}. |
| 342 | * OurZombiesAreDifferent: The Deadlords and the other members of this archetype are zombies, but how they became one varies depending on game. |
| 343 | * ReforgedIntoAMinion: ''Thracia 776'' and ''Fates'' had player units who died were brought back as undead soldiers for the villain groups. |
| 344 | [[/folder]] |
| 345 | |
| 346 | [[folder:The Hardin]] |
| 347 | The Hardin is a unique breed of villain who could technically overlap with any of the other archetypes, or be their own character. Their main trait also makes them one of the most tragic of the villain group: [[DemonicPossession They have been possessed by an evil force]], [[BrainwashedAndCrazy brainwashed into either "killing the heroes" or "destroying the world"]], and the only way to stop them is to beat the crap out of them or kill them. The Lord's army will eventually do so, usually granting the Hardin a tragic or peaceful death (if the player's army doesn't comment on it, the player themselves just might). They usually used to be close acquaintances with the Lord and/or the heroine, if not an arch-nemesis of sorts, making the struggle against them more personal.\ |
| 348 | |
| 349 | Since this villain is defined by a highly personal tragedy, they can never be recruited. |
| 350 | |
| 351 | ->'''Characters of this archetype:''' Hardin (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Julius (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Lyon (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Rajaion (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]''); Robin[[note]]The vessel of Grima that either comes from Lucina's timeline or accompanies Validar[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Garon[[note]]While ''Birthright'' and ''Conquest'' only hint at his status as a Hardin, this is fully revealed in ''Revelation''[[/note]] and Takumi[[note]]''Conquest'' only, where he is in an irreversible stage of possession by Anankos[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Morion, Hyacinth, and Lumera (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]''); Bruno [[note]]Book I and VI[[/note]] and Fáfnir [[note]]Book V[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemHeroes Heroes]]''); Darios (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemWarriors Warriors]]'') |
| 352 | |
| 353 | ->'''Characters that only have elements of this archetype:''' [[spoiler:Idunn]][[note]]While she is ForcedIntoEvil, how she ended up that way wasn't done through either possession or brainwashing, but rather the result of being lobotomized by the other dragons.[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Gunter[[note]]''Revelation''; though he is possessed for a majority of the game, he only actively opposes Corrin for one chapter and returns to his senses after being beaten.[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); [[spoiler:Shez]][[note]]Same reason as Gunter[[/note]] and [[spoiler:Byleth]][[note]]They only get possessed by Sothis if the player fails to recruit them. [[/note]](''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemWarriorsThreeHopes Warriors: Three Hopes]]''); |
| 354 | ---- |
| 355 | * AlasPoorVillain: Once beaten, they usually get a sympathetic sendoff. Even Julius is given one, as Julia tries to remember what he was when they were younger. |
| 356 | * BrainwashedAndCrazy: There's usually a malevolent force possessing them and driving them to kill and/or destroy. |
| 357 | * BreakingOldTrends: While most members of this archetype are humans being possessed by dragons or other demonic beings, Rajaion is a dragon who is being possessed (as in owned and used as a mount) [[HumansAreCthulhu by a human]]. On top of that, instead of DemonicPossession, Rajaion has lost his mind due to being drugged by [[MadScientist Izuka]]. Finally, while he is technically fought as the final boss due to being [[BigBad Ashnard's]] steed, Rajaion is not fought directly, as Ashnard is the main enemy in his boss fight. |
| 358 | * DemonicPossession: Most of the time, it's the Medeus figure doing so. There are two types of possession; the first is where the demonic figure [[GrandTheftMe claims the body as their own]], such as Loptous, Fomortiis, and Grima; the second is where the demonic figure controls the host like a minion, such as the Darksphere, Ashnard, and Anankos. |
| 359 | * DyingAsYourself: All of them except for Julius and ''Conquest''/''Revelation'' Garon get to return to their senses as they die. |
| 360 | * GreenEyedMonster: If they're not born into a diabolical bloodline, jealousy (oftentimes towards the Lord) is usually the major catalyst that makes them vulnerable to DemonicPossession. |
| 361 | * MercyKill: There's no saving them; all you can do is put them out of their misery. Bruno subverts this in Book I, as he is not too far gone to require this trope yet, but he plays it straight in Book VI. |
| 362 | * RaisedAsAHost: Some of them exist only to be possessed. The most extreme examples of this are Julius and Robin; they were born only to be the vessel for a dark dragon, and nothing more. |
| 363 | * SplitPersonalityMerge: In some cases the possession works like this; instead of being simply possessed, the original being essentially merges with the possessor and becomes mostly the possessor with elements of the original being. Julius for example is largely Loptous with some of Julius' personality (such as his love of Ishtar). |
| 364 | * ThatManIsDead: In the most extreme examples of this, the host is almost completely dead in terms of their being, and is fully taken over by the possessor. Lyon in Erika's route (to Fomortiis) and BadFuture Robin (to Grima) are the most extreme examples of this. Rajaion is similar in that, while he is still alive, due to ingesting Izuka's [[PsychoSerum feral drug]], he is now a mindless beast whose possession is impossible to reverse, essentially making his original self long gone. Garon is an interesting {{Inversion}}; his possessor ''thinks'' he is the real Garon, and struggles to at times remember it isn't the real Garon. |
| 365 | * TragicVillain: These guys didn't become villains by choice; villainy is [[ForcedIntoEvil something forced]] [[FaceMonsterTurn upon them]] (unlike Camus or Ishtar), making them usually the most sympathetic of the final bosses. |
| 366 | ---- |
| 367 | [[/folder]] |
| 368 | |
| 369 | [[folder:The Dark Lady]] |
| 370 | !!The [[WitchWithACapitalB Witch]] |
| 371 | |
| 372 | In the earlier times, female antagonists were rare, and media usually tend to default them into FemalesAreMoreInnocent; if you saw a bad, humanoid female, you might see them as someone at least redeemable. Come at least [[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar the first game stepping out far from Archanea]], Intelligent Systems decided to introduce an aversion of that: A female antagonist that can be just as horrifically evil as their male counterparts. (which is also ironic because that game also introduced a sympathetic, yet unrecruitable female antagonist (Ishtar)).\ |
| 373 | |
| 374 | Enter the Witch, a female member of the bad guys amongst the evil's inner circle. Extremely loyal to the main bad guys, be it the Gharnef or the Rudolf or even the Medeus, or at times, only for themselves, these women demonstrate a high level of ruthlessness and don't blink an eye at murder or manipulation. They may even gloat about it. Unlike the Kempf, these women are rarely of lower rank; they typically rival a Jiol in the hierarchy of the inner circle of evil. Another common element amongst these 'witches' are that they're mothers, but ''never'' expect them to be anything decent. Often being a WickedStepmother, they represent the fears of children that were unfortunate enough to be born from or adopted by an evil woman, so they will be greatly abusive towards these little children.\ |
| 375 | |
| 376 | Whatever reasons why these women were evil are inconsequential; they might be evil right to the bone from the start, or their excuses were eclipsed by their atrocities.\ |
| 377 | |
| 378 | And as far as the evil's inner circle was concerned... they aren't really supportive to these witches either; despite their contributions to evil, they're just another cog in the wheel, so when these witches die, their sense of self-worth and worldview go into a downward spiral. They typically die ignored by their superiors, and [[LaserGuidedKarma karma finally catches up to them, often times at the hands of the people they abused or wronged]] (and we have to remind you that karma does not take genders into account).\ |
| 379 | |
| 380 | Despite the name, these antagonists aren't necessarily [[WitchWorks a literal witch or classed as one]], this is more or less because there is [[WitchWithACapitalB a trope with the same name]] that works in tandem with ''Fire Emblem'''s [[GoshDangItToHeck sometimes archaic and censor-prone choice of vocabulary]] and these ladies' nasty personalities. This marks the first archetype to be named after a Class instead of a character. [[note]]We did consider naming it 'The Hilda', after [[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar the first example of these dark ladies originating from the Jugdral games]], but we did not want to insult [[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Hilda Valentine Goneril]], whose greatest vice was that she's merely lazy.[[/note]]\ |
| 381 | |
| 382 | In gameplay they do tend to be magic users, or at least specialize in ranged weapons. In appearance they tend to [[CustomUniformOfSexy wear dark, provactive clothing]], and are clearly designed for the MaleGaze. |
| 383 | |
| 384 | ->'''Characters of this archetype:''' Hilda (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Sonia (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Petrine (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]''); Kronya and Cornelia (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''); Evil Veyle, Alternate Ivy (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]''); Loki and Hel (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemHeroes Heroes]]'') |
| 385 | |
| 386 | ->'''Characters that only have elements of this:''' Nuibaba (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Shadows of Valentia]]'')[[note]]Appears in the original ''Gaiden'', but does not fit there. The remake gives the character a GenderFlip and [[AdaptationalAttractiveness more attractive looks]], making her very nasty, complete with no deathbed redemption, but AllThereInTheManual reveals she was a victim of domestic abuse and a murder attempt by an evil man, forcing her to make a DealWithTheDevil that robbed her of a soul, making her agency questionable.[[/note]] |
| 387 | ---- |
| 388 | * BadBoss: The faceless mooks and lower-level bosses are terrified of them, as they show no remorse in punishing or executing even allies [[YouHaveFailedMe for their failures]]. |
| 389 | * TheBaroness: They are sexy, cold and sadistic. Despite playing the role of the seductress, none of them have ever had a DatingCatwoman situation with the main heroes. They may have [[UnholyMatrimony real]], [[HoneyPot fabricated]], or [[DarkMistress yearned for]] connections with male villains however. |
| 390 | * BlackMage: For the most part, they ARE actually capable of black magic like literal witches, such as Hilda, Sonia and Cornelia. Even Petrine used a magic-attuned Flame Lance. Subverted with Loki, who's actually a staff user[[note]]but even then, her PRF has Wrathful Staff built in, enabling her to deal damage like any other mage[[/note]], but possesses the more manipulative tendencies of a black mage. |
| 391 | * BreakingOldTrends: Evil Veyle is the first of Witches which aren't physically mature enough like the rest, but still possesses the cruelty and sadism of other Witches, therefore showing that little, nasty, not-so-haggard witches exist. |
| 392 | * CompositeCharacter: In ''Three Houses'', the Witches of the game take aspects of several other antagonist archetypes: |
| 393 | ** Cornelia is more deeply involved in politics than other Witches and also participates in [[spoiler:selling out Faehrgus to the Adrestian Empire]]. She's also an [[EvilOldFolks elderly woman]], giving her some of the "old SleazyPolitician" traits pioneered by Jiol. |
| 394 | ** Kronya is the {{sadist}}ic PsychoForHire of "those who slither in the dark", but has little interest in politics and little influence within her cult, putting her on the level of a Kempf. |
| 395 | * CustomUniformOfSexy: They are typically dressed much more provocatively than their peers, even for their in-game class. A way to tell between the evil and good Veyle is after all to see which one has the more provocative clothing. |
| 396 | * EvilMatriarch: They are often 'worst mother of the year' candidates. Any children under their care can expect cold cordiality at best and horrific abuse at worst. |
| 397 | ** Hilda is the mother of Ishtar but [[EvilAunt delivers her cruelty mostly to her niece Tine/Linda]], while going for psychological abuse on Ishtar (viewing her as nothing but a stepping stone to get herself more riches and influence by pressuring Ishtar to marry Julius for wealth reasons, not actual love). |
| 398 | ** Sonia is the adoptive mother of Nino, and she hated every thought of that and only did so because Nergal ordered her to, and thus she abused Nino while manipulating her earnest desire for adoration. |
| 399 | ** Inverted with Evil Veyle. She's instead a DaddysLittleVillain for Sombron, and ironically, Sombron is the one giving her a typical Witch-to-children treatment to her. |
| 400 | ** PlayedWith for Alternate Ivy. While she is not a mother, she is in fact the eldest sister of her family. Therefore, she's a highly abusive big sister who goes beyond a [[BigBrotherBully Big Sister Bully]] (as in, an abusive elder sibling receiving a PromotionToParent) to Alternate Hortensia and the rest of her siblings, to the point of callously killing them all and leaving Alternate Hortensia the SoleSurvivor and she's still treated horribly. |
| 401 | ** Hel constantly killed her adopted daughter Eir, knowing that the latter would revive upon death due to possessing multiple lives and each revive would empower Hel herself, and generally treated Eir like a disposable pawn for her plans instead of actual daughter. To her surprise, on being defeated, Eir still considered her like a beloved mother, which gave Hel some sort of amusement (without any spites) before she resigned to defeat. |
| 402 | * FemalesAreMoreInnocent: They are clear aversions to the trope; the creators made them as evil as they could so the players wouldn't have any remorse or regrets when the time comes for them to die. |
| 403 | * {{Foil}}: One of the foils of the Ishtar. While the Ishtar is an honorable, loyal AntiVillain [[SensibleHeroesSkimpyVillains that dressed more sensibly]], the Witch is depraved, selfish with more provocative clothing and mature appeal. |
| 404 | * HateSink: They are horrible people with no redeeming qualities and make the female gender look bad; the best they could have is just a FreudianExcuse that looks miniscule compared to how they acted, so you shouldn't worry too much about killing them. Although, Petrine downplays this as she has a FreudianExcuse of [[spoiler:being a Branded, which means she's prejudiced by others]], and [[PetTheDog she actually cares for Ena, even to the point of ignoring an order from Ashnard to kill her.]] |
| 405 | * KarmicDeath: Karma knows no gender indeed, a lot of times, they would put these ladies right in their place by placing someone who has been wronged by them to deliver justice unto them. Most of the time, it's the abused children. |
| 406 | ** Hilda has special dialogue when she fights against the children of the woman she tortured for fun (Tailtiu/Ethnia) in which they plan to exact vengeance for their mothers, and can potentially be the ones to end her life. Said children usually prevails over her in the Magic Weapon Triangle (They specialize in lightning, which is strong against Hilda's fire), making it a lot easier for them to exact vengeance. |
| 407 | ** Sonia finds out right before she died that she was another mass-produced ArtificialHuman like the one whom she had been cruelly mistreating; she is then abandoned by the subordinate she had abused. |
| 408 | ** Kronya meets her end foolishly [[VillainsWantMercy begging for help]] from [[spoiler:the child of the legendary knight she murdered not too long ago]], gasping for air as her boss, Solon, sacrifices her to spring a trap he prepared for the hero [[YouHaveFailedMe Kronya failed to kill]]. |
| 409 | ** In the Azure Moon route, Cornelia is fought, defeated and killed by [[spoiler:Dimitri, whom she sold out by aligning with the Adrestian Empire, and generally playing a big part of why Dimitri was such a big mess after the time skip]]. And as a final spite, on death's door, she even tries to [[spoiler:shake Dimitri's resolve by revealing some nasty truths about his stepmother... and that still fails to even shake Dimitri, who has since recovered from his madness]]. |
| 410 | ** Evil Veyle is [[spoiler:obliterated by her GoodCounterpart, whom she scoffs as a defective sibling. The good Veyle takes control of her body and smashes the headband containing the evil Veyle into pieces, leaving her to ignobly call for help from daddy dearest Sombron, which gets ignored, and she dies screaming in despair.]] |
| 411 | * ManipulativeBastard: Something they take after Gharnefs, but for the most part, the Witches specialize in personal manipulation rather than kingdom-level manipulation. |
| 412 | * TheOneGuy: Cornelia is an interesting example in that she presents female, but ''Three Hopes'' implies that "she" is actually a guy named Cleobulus who has been impersonating her, mainly by wearing her corpse. |
| 413 | * PromotedToPlayable: |
| 414 | ** Petrine is playable, but she requires ''Path of Radiance'' to be beaten at least seven times, and even then, she's only playable for the Trial Maps. |
| 415 | ** Loki and Hel are basically playable due to the gacha nature of ''Heroes''; storywise, they never had a HeelFaceTurn (Hel, however ''did'' have an EvenEvilCanBeLoved moment). |
| 416 | * RevisitingTheRoots: |
| 417 | ** Kronya and Cornelia[[spoiler:'s impersonator, Cleobulus,]] were meant to be the return to this style of Dark Ladies, after their venture to a slightly more sympathetic examples since Eremiya which lasted for about three mainline games. Kronya's [[ImpersonationExclusiveCharacter "other self"]], Monica, wound up on the losing end of a KillAndReplace plot, making Kronya solely responsible for her actions. |
| 418 | ** Before the two, however, Nuibaba can be considered a downplayed example. In the remake, she's given a personality revamp as something that's more of a witch and dies evil, behind-the-scenes tragic backstory of being betrayed and murdered by [[AllAbusersAreMale an evil man]], with implications the pact with Medusa corrupted her as it explicitly took away her soul. |
| 419 | * SoleSurvivor: Cornelia is TheUnfought in Verdant Wind and Silver Snow routes of ''Three Houses''. |
| 420 | |
| 421 | !!The Eremiya |
| 422 | After their attempt in ''Path of Radiance'', where the token Witch (Petrine) had a slight redeeming quality that didn't eclipse her nastiness, Intelligent System decided to use the remake of [[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem the third game]] as a method to experiment with further examples of this, which dominated the handheld ''Fire Emblem'' games after Tellius and ended up receiving more publication due to the NewbieBoom in ''Awakening''.\ |
| 423 | |
| 424 | The Eremiya is what happens when you combine the Witch with the Hardin [[note]]Coinciding with this archetype originating from the remake of the game that debuted the Hardin archetype[[/note]]. Perhaps these matriarchs are nasty, manipulative and evil, but [[RousseauWasRight Rousseau hit the jackpot for this lady]]; there was a time that these ladies were once upstanding and virtuous. However, either by nature or the manipulations of "Evil's Inner Circle", these ladies were hit with tragedy that they caused them to fall into despair (or were just unfortunate enough to meet members of the inner circle at the wrong time) and was then transformed, usually via brainwashing, into a twisted version of their old selves, now serving the bad guys and doing nasty things like the Witches.\ |
| 425 | |
| 426 | Their end fates differ from normal Witches, who would surely die horribly as retribution for their bad deeds. For the most part, they typically end up remembering their old, virtuous self... and then [[DyingAsYourself dying in despair of the knowledge of how far they have fallen]], though at least any surviving members of their family might stay by their side until they breathe their last, [[DeathEqualsRedemption giving them comfort in death]]. Very rarely, they might have their brainwashing wear off before they even die, and offer to join the heroes in their last shot at redemption.\ |
| 427 | |
| 428 | Named after the first incarnation of this character that debuted in the Japanese-only remake of ''VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem'', Eremiya. |
| 429 | |
| 430 | The main distinction of this sub-type of Witch is that they're more sympathetic in story. In gameplay and design they are very similar, tending to be magic using or at least ranged units, and wearing more provactive clothing than most.\ |
| 431 | |
| 432 | ->'''Characters of this archetype:''' Marla and Hestia (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]''); Eremiya (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem New Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Aversa (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Mikoto[[note]]only on the ''Revelation'' route, where she is revived and tries to trick Corrin into entering a death trap[[/note]] and Arete (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Thrasir and Freyja (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemHeroes Heroes]]'') |
| 433 | |
| 434 | ->'''Character that only has elements of this archetype''': Clarisse[[note]]Because she was taken for her family and raised as a TykeBomb as a kid it's unclear how good she ever had a chance to be. She also plays Wicked Stepsister to Eremiya who already fulfills the WickedStepmother role, and is an archer rather than a mage.[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem New Mystery of the Emblem]]'') Limstella[[note]]Despite following a similar character arc to the typical Eremiya, Limstella was specifically created - rather than brainwashed - to be evil, and it's hardwired in them to have UndyingLoyalty to [[BigBad Nergal]]. While significantly more sympathetic than ''The Blazing Blade'''s token Witch, Sonia, Limstella is not above [[KickTheDog kicking the dog]] themself (especially towards [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness other villains]]), nor does the story attempt to downplay or justify their actions.[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Camilla[[note]]While she was a provocatively dressed high ranking older female, she was not at all brainwashed and not evil to the core, she just had trouble with her living family members. And likewise, she's genuinely a very doting lady for her underlings.[[/note]](''VideoGame/FireEmblemFates'') Zephia (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'') [[note]]She fulfills most of the requirements including a sympathetic death scene, however it's unknown if she was ever fully good before the events of the story. She's clearly somewhere in the Dark Lady archetype but skirts the line between where we split the subtypes.[[/note]] |
| 435 | ---- |
| 436 | * AllAbusersAreMale: |
| 437 | ** In contrast to the countless [[AbusiveParents abusive fathers in the series]], all Eremiyas only act abusively because a man abused and manipulated them. |
| 438 | ** DoubleSubversion with Clarisse who was abused and manipulated by Eremiya, a beautiful nun... but she only did this because she was magically manipulated by the male Gharnef in the first place, making a man the abuser of both characters. |
| 439 | * AlasPoorVillain: |
| 440 | ** Marla, Hestia, Eremiya, Clarisse and [[spoiler:Arete]] are all victims of brainwashing. |
| 441 | ** Thrasir [[spoiler:dies her 'first death' lamenting that she couldn't restore her Bruno]]. |
| 442 | ** Freyja [[spoiler:has a last minute HeelFaceTurn and dies as the nurturing faerie queen that saved both Triandra and Plumeria, prompting them to find a way to bring her back.]] |
| 443 | ** Aversa is an an odd case: if you do not do her sub-quest, there's no indication that she's a brainwashing victim and she appears to be a case of MyMasterRightOrWrong that Chrom feels sorry for. But when she does find she's brainwashed, she doesn't die and joins you to atone, thus giving you no time to mourn. |
| 444 | ** On the brink of death, Zephia realized that [[spoiler:if she wanted a family, she already had the Four Hounds. However, her own plotting for Sombron and her twisted sense of family (thanks to learning from Sombron) led her to kill Marni, having Mauvier leave her, and she's left to die along with Griss, who made her remember her wish that she inadvertently destroyed herself.]] |
| 445 | * TheBaroness: Something they share with the Witches, although EarlyInstallmentWeirdness is in effect for Eremiya herself who is dressed as a [[LightIsNotGood traditional conservative Bishop class]] and Clarisse in the same game who wears [[DarkIsEvil darker clothes]] but otherwise isn't far off from most other archers. |
| 446 | * BrainwashedAndCrazy: Unlike the Hardin, the brainwashing usually comes from dark magic cast by the Gharnef-type instead of possession by the Medeus-type. |
| 447 | * BlackMage: This is why they're part of the Dark Ladies along with the Witches. Eremiya, Arete, Nuibaba and Thrasir are part of the mage class family proper. Aversa is a Dark Flier with Shadowgift, a magic-wielding pegasus class unique to ''Awakening'' with the personal ability to cast Dark Magic. Freyja is a Beast unit where her attacks were counted as magic type. Mikoto and Clarisse are both archers, though the former has access to staves. |
| 448 | * EvilMatriarch: Unlike Witches, their status as a 'bad mom' is often because of being turned into a twisted version of themselves. They were actually once rather good parents: |
| 449 | ** Technically speaking, Marla was actually the eldest of three sisters, but Sonya describes her as "stern, but deeply kind" in her third base conversation in ''Echoes: Shadows of Valentia''. |
| 450 | ** Eremiya is the adoptive mother of Clarisse and Katarina [[spoiler: but is only evil due to brainwashing; beforehand she was a true genuinely nice adopted mother to all orphanage children]]. Similarly Clarisse, as a Wicked Stepsister rather than an WickedStepmother, was kidnapped and raised to be evil, but may have been a good person if her biological family wasn't killed. [[spoiler: She too gets a sympathetic death scene with her stepsister Katarina taking care of her in her final moments, acknowledging their bond despite their BigScrewedUpFamily.]] |
| 451 | ** Aversa is a variation. By default, she is not a mom, but [[spoiler:she can marry Robin, become Morgan's mother, and speak of her time as a villain with quite a bit of regret]]. |
| 452 | ** Mikoto was the mother of the Hoshido siblings and as shown on screen in early game, she was good, peaceful and serene. [[spoiler:When she is revived and brainwashed by Anankos, she decides to use that 'good mother' image to lure them and Corrin into a trap, and when beaten, she reverted to her old genuinely good self before dying for real.]] |
| 453 | ** Arete [[spoiler:is the real mother of Azura; before her death, she was [[GoodParents a very gentle mother]], and returns to her kind self as she dies]]. |
| 454 | ** Freyja zig-zags this: She saved and inspired Triandra and Plumeria from their abusive pasts, but then she went crazy because of siblings issues and resorted to giving Triandra and Plumeria nasty job descriptions (bringers of nightmares and lewd dreams), became more or less megalomaniacal, and pretty much stopped caring about them. [[spoiler:Then she has a last-minute HeelFaceTurn, reverting to her old kind self and dies while admitting that she was genuine in saving Triandra and Plumeria, motivating them to resurrect her.]] |
| 455 | ** Zephia is the matriarch figure of the Four Hounds, proudly saying that they're like family. However, [[spoiler:her twisted values of familial matters thanks to Sombron made her resort to either blasting away her disobeying family members to outright killing them, as Marni learned the hard way. On her death's door, she realized that she could've just treated the Four Hounds as a normal family, but it's too late.]] Zelestia, her alternate counterpart, is the good mom she could've been if she didn't lose her way. |
| 456 | * FemalesAreMoreInnocent: For the post-Tellius handheld games, they hold up as this, along with Ishtars though not as blatant. ''Three Houses'' decided to [[RevisitingTheRoots go back to the unsympathetic style]]. |
| 457 | * {{Foil}}: They are this, for both the Witches and Ishtars. Eremiyas are ForcedIntoEvil, whereas Witches and Ishtars are antagonistic by choice. |
| 458 | * TragicVillain: A once virtuous lady that is struck with the tragedy or encounter they never asked for and become a twisted version of themselves that needs to be put down. |
| 459 | * UnwittingPawn: They are majorly brainwashed victims of men. Averted with Freyja, who's not being manipulated by anyone. She seems to view Alfaðör as at least a being above her hierarchy, while Alfaðör didn't directly manipulate her actions. |
| 460 | [[/folder]] |
| 461 | |
| 462 | [[folder:The Dark Wizard]] |
| 463 | !!The Gharnef |
| 464 | |
| 465 | The Gharnef is the first of the three main villain archetypes. He's a mage (usually a Dark Magic user) that spends the entire game manipulating others for some goal, being the driving force behind the main conflict. The Gharnef tends to be defeated before the real FinalBoss rears its head... usually it's because they are trying to revive a great destructive being who would serve as ''the'' FinalBoss (usually the Medeus). Their goals often will cause a lot of destruction to the world, so they're very antagonistic and have to be put down. And even then, when the heroes actually kill them, they keep a satisfied smile in their faces: Because their deaths mean nothing in the grand scale, they have succeeded in bringing back the destructive being to ruin the world, so for them, the heroes will die anyway, so it's up to the player to make sure that the middle finger is given not for the heroes as the Gharnef predicted, but to the dead Gharnef figure post-mortem by surviving and killing the destructive being. |
| 466 | |
| 467 | %%The main requirement of this archetype is '''Dark Mage/Bishop That Manipulates And Tries To Resurrect An Evil/Destructive Being'''. They prefer being an enemy from start to finish. They had to be in charge and the being they try to resurrect would be utterly destructive and spells doom to the world. Supporting scores would be how they look (mostly ugly) and their fighting style. They're part of the "Wizard" group for a reason, the more attuned they are to magic, the better the score. Furthermore, they had to be the opponent defeated before the FinalBoss or when the Medeus figure showed its face (being the FinalBoss is a bit more acceptable, though). |
| 468 | ->'''Characters of this archetype:''' Gharnef (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Jedah (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]''); Manfroy (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Nergal (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Lyon and Riev (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Sephiran (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]''[[note]]Sephiran is TheUnfought in ''Path of Radiance'', and the game never goes any further than subtle hints to his influence in the plot — his true colors aren't shown until the sequel[[/note]] and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Validar (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Thales (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''); Hatanaka (''VideoGame/TokyoMirageSessionsFE'') |
| 469 | |
| 470 | ->'''Characters that only have elements of this archetype''': Veld[[note]]His goals mostly align with Manfroy, who is his boss; overall, he's just another Dark Mage that just happens to be the FinalBoss for the game, but not the one fully in charge of the resurrection of Loptous, the cult's overall goal[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Iago[[note]]Like Veld, he's only following King Garon's orders and while he is one of the last opponents you face in Birthright and Conquest, he is defeated midway through Revelations[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Solon[[note]]Like Veld and Iago, he's only following Thales' orders, but he's defeated midway through the game, instead of being one of the last opponents you face[[/note]], Hubert[[note]]Hubert is playable for the Crimson Flower route, is a manipulator and at least just has a FaceOfAThug, and could be a sympathetic take of Gharnef. However, he is ruled out because he is not interested in resurrecting anything; he's just a loyal servant of Edelgard.[[/note]], Rhea[[note]]Rhea is an Archbishop and manipulates the history of Fódlan. As a very pretty woman, she is also in line with mid-era Gharnefs like Lyon or Sephiran. However, even if she is an Archbishop, it translates to the game as being a MagicKnight since she's also attuned to swordsmanship and brawling. She is only an enemy, and the FinalBoss at that (as Seiros) during the last half of the Crimson Flower route, though like most members of this archetype, she's fought in her human form in the penultimate chapter before being fought as the final boss; on the other routes, she works more as a genuine ally (she's kind of complex). And lastly, the being she's trying to resurrect (Sothis) is actually benevolent and more likely not going to ruin the world.[[/note]], and Aelfric[[note]]Cindered Shadows only, with similar reasons to Rhea, though unlike her, he ''used'' to be good before discovering Sitri's body. Also, he does succeed in resurrection... though it [[GoneHorriblyWrong goes horribly awry]].[[/note]](''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''); Zephia [[note]]She is the magic wielding architect behind Sombron's revival and the one pulling off the mind tricks to get everyone else in their side. However she has more in common with the Dark Lady archetype, especially in appearance. Additionally because Sombron is revived well before the Endgame, she spends a significant amount of time as his NumberTwo instead of as the BigBad herself in his absence. Finally she gets discarded and OutGambitted by her own master like a Dark Lady.[[/note]] Alternate Ivy [[note]]Although she expresses a desire to resurrect Alternate Sombron, she isn't present until halfway through the Fell Xenologue and isn't the main enemy at any point of it.[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'') |
| 471 | ---- |
| 472 | * AlwaysMale: All characters who fully fit the characteristics of this archetype have been male. |
| 473 | * BeautyEqualsGoodness: Most of the time, Gharnef characters are irredeemable bastards, and their deformed {{Gonk}} appearances are proof to that[[note]]with Nergal being an exception; once you get to his backstory, he's a surprisingly TragicVillain[[/note]]. Lyon is a pretty boy and he gets the sympathetic TragicVillain treatment and [[AlasPoorVillain sad sendoff]] (because he is also a Hardin archetype). Sephiran also looks normal, and he gets a chance for redemption. |
| 474 | * CastingAShadow: All of them save for [[LightEmUp Riev and Sephiran]] specialize in Dark magic. |
| 475 | * DarkIsEvil: Their hearts are as black as their magic of choice (save for [[LightIsNotGood Riev and Sephiran]]). |
| 476 | * EvilOldFolks: While not mandatory for the archetype, Gharnefs are generally not just old, but also usually look the part, with Sephiran being the only one to pull off ReallySevenHundredYearsOld handsomely[[note]]Nergal is no young man appearance-wise, but he's also much older than is apparent[[/note]]. Lyon and Validar do show that advanced age isn't necessary to fill the archetype though. |
| 477 | * EvilSorcerer: Is always a user of magic, mainly Dark Magic (though Riev and Sephiran use Light magic instead). |
| 478 | * ManipulativeBastard: They spend the game manipulating others, often being responsible for many of the conflicts in the plot. |
| 479 | * MyDeathIsJustTheBeginning: The more unsympathetic Gharnefs usually treat their deaths as such: They may die, but at least they have succeeded in setting up the Medeus to return to the world; from their POV, the heroes are doomed anyway. Notably, they're usually spared from 'being devoured by the Medeus figure' since that's usually reserved for the Smug Minister, meaning that even in the face of death, a Gharnef still remains calculative and confident about the fruition of their plan, [[FaceDeathWithDignity carrying their dark, villainous dignity to the end]]. |
| 480 | * PromotedToPlayable: Sephiran is the only Gharnef archetype who has ever been playable in the main campaign of the game they appear in. He needs specific circumstances to actually join you and only really exists for one chapter. |
| 481 | * RedemptionEarnsLife: Sephiran is the only Gharnef who can truly redeem himself, and the only Gharnef who can survive. |
| 482 | * SignatureSpell: All of them except for Riev have their own unique magic tome to bring forth against their enemies. |
| 483 | * SinisterMinister: Many of them are evil {{Cult}} leaders who serve the resident Medeus archetype. Gharnef, Manfroy, and Riev take this further by being actual Bishops. |
| 484 | * SoleSurvivor: Being a Gharnef is generally a death sentence. However, Sephiran can see redemption playing NewGamePlus and completing some [[GuideDangIt specific tasks to unlock the special event that makes him playable]].[[note]]The tasks are using the Black Knight in Chapter 1-F, and fighting him with Ike in Chapter 3-7, ''but'' the Black Knight mustn't be defeated. Doing this will unlock a special cutscene in the Endgame. Sephiran will be playable in the last chapter [[spoiler:using his original name, Lehran]].[[/note]] |
| 485 | * UniqueEnemy: Mostly averted. Of the three main villain archetypes, the Gharnef rarely has their own unique class, opting for one of the normal magic-using classes instead. They may be of an enemy-exclusive magic-using class depending on the game, but they are rarely the only one. The only Gharnefs that have completely unique classes are Nergal ([[TheArchmage Dark Druid]]), Lyon ({{Necromancer}}), Sephiran ([[EvilChancellor Chancellor]]), and Thales ([[FantasticScience Agastya]]). |
| 486 | |
| 487 | !!The Smug Minister |
| 488 | |
| 489 | Also known as the Ephidel, these are villains who are designed to attempt to emulate Gharnef, but are instead saddled with the smugness of either a Jiol or a Kempf and none of the charisma or competence of either Gharnef or Michalis. This usually results in 'The Smug Minister'. Always a magic user, these are the type of characters that, aside from holding a slightly better position in the political world, much like Jiol (unless they prefer to avoid politics and practice [dark] magic), fancy themselves [[ManipulativeBastard great manipulators of events]] and bragging about it, making them [[HateSink extremely detestable]]. Unfortunately, for all their big talk, they can't back it up with power ''or'' cunning. They may be schemers, but the Gharnef is [[AlwaysSomeoneBetter much better at it]], factoring in the smaller details that the Smug Minister is too arrogant to concern themselves with.\ |
| 490 | |
| 491 | Much like the Dark Lady, once everything comes crashing down for them, only an UndignifiedDeath awaits them as they can only [[ThisCannotBe rant about the impossibility of their failure]] or futilely beg for their lives. |
| 492 | |
| 493 | ->'''Characters of this archetype:''' Veld (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Ephidel and Sonia (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Lekain and Izuka (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Eremiya (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem New Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Excellus (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Iago (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Hyacinth (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]''); Letizia (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemHeroes Heroes]]'') |
| 494 | |
| 495 | ->'''Characters that only have elements of this archetype''': Solon (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemWarriorsThreeHopes Warriors: Three Hopes]]'') [[note]]Like Veld, he's only following Thales' orders, but his actions in the game contradict some of the most remarkable traits of the Smug Minister (like being a coward and having an undignified death, though ''Three Hopes'' gives him the latter by having Epimenides sacrifice him to activate the Spell of Zahras).[[/note]] |
| 496 | ---- |
| 497 | * AlwaysSomeoneBetter: The Smug Minister is essentially a "Discount Gharnef". It's well known that Veld is lower in authority than [[GreaterScopeVillain Manfroy or Julius]], but he otherwise plays the archetype straight in ''Thracia 776'' because of the game's smaller scope. |
| 498 | * CompositeCharacter: Hyacinth combines the elements of a Smug Minister and surprisingly an Eremiya, despite his male gender. He spends his time before his first death like a proper Smug Minister. But then, he gets revived and [[DyingAsYourself gets to die much more peacefully and with some encouraging words]], surrounded with his daughters that still looked up to his past, kinder self, which is more in line with an Eremiya. |
| 499 | * DirtyCoward: When cornered, they usually start panicking, but that's merely the prelude to their long-overdue UndignifiedDeath. |
| 500 | * EvilSorcerer: Always a magic-user, and more inclined to dark magic. |
| 501 | * HateSink: If they get a lot of screen time, it will be dedicated to irritating the player with their smugness, machinations, evil actions, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and being a poor man's Gharnef]]. Hyacinth is a subverted example in this trope: While he has all the makings of this archetype[[note]]He only lasts half of the game, but his on-screen time was spent with being so utterly smug and successful in inciting the anger of Diamant and Alcryst by completing his corruption of Morion, only to be revealed that he's upstaged by both Zephia and Evil Veyle in manipulation and Sombron has the UndignifiedDeath planned for him, [[FaceDeathWithDespair with him dying in complete despair]][[/note]], he's still looked up highly by both Ivy and Hortensia, and it's shown that before the arrival of the Four Hounds, he used to be kind and gentle, proven with [[DyingAsYourself his encouraging final words as he dies the second time as a Corrupted.]] Additionally, he has a good reason to be antagonistic and trying to resurrect Sombron in the beginning: He was only defending his nation from Morion who tends to constantly wage war against Elusia just because of their religion of choice (granted, it was a dark religion, but if Morion didn't provoke him constantly, there's a chance that he could end up as a DarkIsNotEvil example). |
| 502 | * ManipulativeBastard: Their forte, although they still pale compared to Gharnef, usually without them knowing. |
| 503 | * SinisterMinister: They often have some level of political power, aligned with either the Rudolf or even the Gharnef, instead of the Medeus figure. Again, [[AlwaysSomeoneBetter Gharnef still does it better]]. PlayedWith for Hyacinth: While he's technically the King of Elusia, he nonetheless acts like these smug people who usually takes the minister position for Sombron. |
| 504 | * SmugSnake: This is what makes them so punchable. The way they fancy themselves as some big shot and rubbing it in their victims' faces makes them really unlikable. |
| 505 | * UndignifiedDeath: They never end well. [[FaceDeathWithDespair Despair tends to be the last emotions painted in their face as death approaches.]] This is to contrast with the real Gharnefs, who remain confident that their world-dooming plan will succeed anyway even when they get killed. |
| 506 | * UnwittingPawn: Oftentimes they turn out to be a pawn of the real Gharnef. |
| 507 | [[/folder]] |
| 508 | |
| 509 | [[folder:The Rudolf]] |
| 510 | The Rudolf is the second of the main villain archetypes. Unlike the Gharnef, they tend to take a more direct approach, typically as the leader of TheEmpire that invades [[TheGoodKingdom the nice and/or innocent kingdoms]]. The Rudolf's combat prowess matches their empire's military might, [[TinTyrant decked out with massive armor]], and they often own a powerful and unique weapon to make them even more dangerous to face in battle.\ |
| 511 | |
| 512 | Some Rudolf characters are ultimately repentant, becoming the TragicVillain and will see the error of his ways, but usually too late (in fact, Rudolf himself is revealed to be an AntiVillain). If he does not repent at all, he will continue to be a threat to the realm until put down. |
| 513 | |
| 514 | ->'''Characters of this archetype:''' Rudolf (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]''); Hardin (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Arvis[[labelnote:*]]Generation 2[[/labelnote]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Zephiel (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Vigarde (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Ashnard (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]''); Walhart (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Garon (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Flame Emperor/Edelgard (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''); Alternate Timerra (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]''); Surtr (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemHeroes Heroes]]'') |
| 515 | |
| 516 | ->'''Characters that only have elements of this archetype''': Morion (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')[[note]]King Morion is clad in the same style of red armor that most of the characters in the Rudolf archetype wear. In addition to that, it is also stated that Morion is a fierce warmonger who has been very willing in following Brodia's long-lasting militaristic conquest. Furthermore, he constantly invades Elusia and starts a war between them, something even his own son disapproved of. However, he is treated as a ''heroic'' character despite this, and he [[GladHesOnOurSide willingly allies with the protagonists]] and fights against an evil kingdom that worships the BigBad. His only part with an antagonistic role occurs after he is killed by his enemies and brought back as an undead monster.[[/note]] |
| 517 | ---- |
| 518 | * AntiVillain: Most of the Rudolfs are either a WellIntentionedExtremist with actual [[EvenEvilHasStandards standards]] or like Hardin, a shell of their former self and a FallenHero. Surtr is the only notable aversion of this, since he is never given any sort of motivation beyond conquest for power's sake. |
| 519 | * ClimaxBoss: By the time you've defeated them, you're either at the end of the game or entering endgame. |
| 520 | * TheEmperor: They are the leaders of big evil empires trying to conquer the world. While Zephiel, Ashnard, Garon, and Surtr are all kings, they still act as evil emperors in practice. |
| 521 | * EvilOverlord: They're usually the leader of an evil empire trying to take over the world. |
| 522 | * HighHeelFaceTurn: Very downplayed with Edelgard. While she is the only female member of this archetype, one of only two who can become playable under any circumstances (the other being Walhart), and some of her worst traits can be toned down via a MoralityChain, her goals and means still bring her in conflict with the rest of the world. |
| 523 | * LargeAndInCharge: These guys tend to be large, heavily armored guys who command a great deal of authority in their kingdom. [[InvertedTrope Inverted]] with Edelgard, who is a PintSizedPowerhouse and one of the shortest characters in the game, period. |
| 524 | * LightningBruiser: Most of them have incredibly high, if not maxed-out stats across the board. |
| 525 | * ParentalIssues: Most of the people in this archetype have certain... problems with their parents: |
| 526 | ** Arvis' father was a womanizer who pressed his mother into banishment, causing him to develop an UsefulNotes/OedipusComplex from it. |
| 527 | ** Zephiel was TheUnfavorite to his father, to the point his own father tried to have him assassinated ''twice'' (the second time being his StartOfDarkness). |
| 528 | ** Ashnard is on the ''giving'' end of this trope to his son; even so, he tricked his own father into signing a Blood Pact to kill everyone ahead of him in the line of succession, and then [[SelfMadeOrphan murdered him personally]]. |
| 529 | ** Subverted with Edelgard. Rather than her father, the Emperor, being her abuser, it was how weak-willed he was (though not by his own choice, as he was [[StrongEmpireShriveledEmperor afflicted with a terminal illness]]) and how the prime minister practically took over and used her as a guinea pig that served as her StartOfDarkness. When she takes power, all she has to do is to tell her father she's ready to accept the crown, which he grants without complaint and gives her his full blessing, and then she immediately puts the crooked prime minister in his place. |
| 530 | * PromotedToPlayable: Zephiel, Ashnard, Walhart, and Edelgard are all playable, with incrementally more prominent roles, Zephiel and Ashnard can be unlocked as {{Secret Character}}s only usable in trial maps, Walhart is an optional DLC character playable throughout the entire campaign with his own supports and endings, and Edelgard takes center stage as one of the main lords, despite fitting this role. |
| 531 | * RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: All of them are royalty in their home games. |
| 532 | * TheSmurfettePrinciple: Edelgard is the first female to be a member of this male-dominated archetype, and the chances of getting another female like this in the future are... kind of low. |
| 533 | * SoleSurvivor: |
| 534 | ** Walhart is the only unquestionable example of a Rudolf who gets to live long enough to pull a HeelFaceTurn. |
| 535 | ** Edelgard might count depending on whether you consider her to be a Rudolf even on her own route where she's not an antagonist. |
| 536 | * TinTyrant: Usually the commander in chief of TheEmpire, decked head to toe in heavy armor complimenting their size. |
| 537 | * TropeCodifier: While Rudolf started the archetype, Hardin would be the one who codified the more modern traits: Unique weapon and toning down the AntiVillain aspects. |
| 538 | * UniqueEnemy: Excluding Rudolf and Vigarde, all of them have their own unique classes, usually known as Emperor, King, or some variation of the same idea, like Walhart's [[TheConqueror Conqueror]]. With the exceptions of Ashnard and Alternate Timerra, the class is always a variation of the Armor Knight class-line; not all of them have the Armor weakness, though. |
| 539 | * VisionaryVillain: They tend to be someone who has some sort of vision of a better world and will stop at nothing to achieve it, and sometimes can be utterly ruthless and brutal about it. |
| 540 | [[/folder]] |
| 541 | |
| 542 | [[folder:The Medeus]] |
| 543 | The last of the three main villain archetypes is not like any of the others. The Medeus is simply... not at all human. They are more or less a greater being whose power goes beyond mere mortals. Usually depicted as a dragon, though other species, a God/Goddess, or even a demon have been used. They usually tend to be TheManBehindTheMan for the Gharnef, the force possessing the Hardin, or a tool too powerful for the Rudolf to control. Almost always the ''[[TrueFinalBoss real]]'' final boss.\ |
| 544 | |
| 545 | The Medeus is an ancient being which their existence and power is told in the world's legends, talking about their wicked desires and objectives, thought in some cases the Medeus can be remembered more fondly in these legends because of either [[HistoricalHeroUpgrade misinformation]] or because [[FallenHero they used to be good]].\ |
| 546 | |
| 547 | Due to how late they show up, the Medeus runs the risk of [[GenericDoomsdayVillain having little personality and only being defined by the threat they present to the realm]]. Although ironically, sometimes a Medeus is simply their antithesis, [[GodIsGood Naga]], after [[StartOfDarkness one bad day]] [[FaceHeelTurn turned their morality around]].\ |
| 548 | |
| 549 | They are the only one of the three main villain archetypes to never be recruitable in any form, for obvious reasons. |
| 550 | |
| 551 | ->'''Characters of this archetype:''' Medeus (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Duma (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]''); Loptous[[note]]You technically fight against Prince Julius, but he's described as nothing more than Loptous' vessel[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Jahn and Idunn (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); a Fire Dragon (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Fomortiis (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Ashera (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Grima (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Anankos (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Nemesis and Seiros/[[OneWingedAngel The Immaculate One]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''); Sombron (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]''); Medeus again (''VideoGame/TokyoMirageSessionsFE''); Velezark (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemWarriors Warriors]]''); Epimenides (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemWarriorsThreeHopes Warriors: Three Hopes]]'') |
| 552 | |
| 553 | ->'''Characters that have elements of this archetype''': Hegemon [[spoiler:Edelgard]][[note]]The Hegemon Husk is unique among the "monster" final bosses as the only one that isn't a creature from ancient times; instead, she is created in the middle of the story [[spoiler: serving as a transformation for Edelgard]], unlike the Immaculate One or Nemesis, even if Edelgard technically serves as a successor for Nemesis after being imbued with the Crest of Flames. This difference makes the Hegemon Husk's context in the narrative very different compared with every other Medeus in the franchise, as its power and existence isn't part of the game's lore.[[/note]], Umbral Beast [[spoiler:Aelfric]][[note]]DLC. Like the Hegemon Husk, he transforms in the middle of the DLC episode to become the final monster boss.[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''), Fell [[spoiler:Nil/Rafal]] [[note]]DLC. While he is the final boss of the Fell Xenologue, there are a few problems: First, he simply follows the will of the deceased Alternate Sombron. Second, he transforms into his OneWingedAngel form using the Emblem Bracelets rather than by his own power. Finally, he becomes TheAtoner and is playable after completing the Fell Xenologue.[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'') |
| 554 | ---- |
| 555 | * BreakingOldTrends: |
| 556 | ** While all the other examples are unique, one-of-a-kind 'things', the Fire Dragon from ''The Blazing Blade'' is literally a [[TheGenericGuy generic Fire Dragon]]. The only reason the player fights it as the FinalBoss is because events of the plot caused there to only be one Fire Dragon for the player to fight. |
| 557 | ** Unlike most examples of the Medeus, Fomortiis is not a dragon, instead being [[OurDemonsAreDifferent a demon]]. |
| 558 | ** Similarly, Ashera isn't even a being of darkness or a dragon, instead being a full-blown goddess, [[spoiler:driven by a desire to maintain order on the continent of Tellius]]. |
| 559 | ** Nemesis is "just" an incredibly powerful human with powers derived from gods [[spoiler:due to [[KillTheGod butchering the goddess Sothis and her children]] in order to fashion weapons from their remains]]. |
| 560 | ** Epimenides is not a dragon, but rather the secret mastermind behind Shez's possession [[spoiler:and formerly a human as well before his self-styled experiments]], using them and Arval on his quest to kill Sothis. Also, he is an endgame OptionalBoss instead of the final boss. Most significantly, unlike almost every other example of a Medeus, it was never the stated goal of ''anyone'' to free or revive him; despite his research into soul transference, Epimenides was written off even by his own allies as truly dead and his revival centuries later was essentially a happy accident of several factors coming together in just the right circumstances to awaken him. |
| 561 | * DevilButNoGod: In certain realms, a Medeus figure may rise alone without any Naga figure to counter them, thus it's just up to the humans alone to face off the demonic dragon. In times like these, the Past Legends took charge of sealing the Medeus in the first place. |
| 562 | * DragonsAreDemonic: Many are evil dragons trying to destroy and/or conquer the world. |
| 563 | * EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Medeus is actually the leader of an invading empire, but what makes him different is that he is very passive in enforcing his rule (Gharnef does most of the manipulating behind the scenes while it's mostly Grustian officers that are enforcing his rule) and is practically only there to serve as the final boss fight. The emperor figure wouldn't be conceived until ''Gaiden'', kickstarted by Rudolf. |
| 564 | * FemalesAreMoreInnocent: If a Medeus figure somehow is considered female, then she has a shot for redemption post-game. |
| 565 | ** If you land the final blow with the Binding Blade and Fae has survived, Idunn [[spoiler:is spared from death and is taken to Arcadia to regain her emotions]]. |
| 566 | ** Ashera [[spoiler:regains her moral compass and if certain conditions are met, she assists the reformed Sephiran in looking for another set of heroes to save Tellius from another war.]] |
| 567 | ** In any routes other than Crimson Flower (where she takes center stage as the BigBad, and outright refuses Edelgard's offer of surrender), Seiros [[spoiler:doesn't see the need to take over so she can pursue her goals. On Azure Moon, after an implied HeelRealization in captivity, she willingly relinquishes power to Byleth and Dimitri after her rescue; they then proceed to reform her church. On Verdant Wind and if not A-supported on Silver Snow, she takes several missiles to the face to save Byleth and passes away from injuries sustained from said missiles (in Silver Snow, however, her draconic degeneration peaked and she became antagonistic against her will, requiring a MercyKill). If S-supported on the Silver Snow route, Seiros (after being saved from her madness without killing her) manages to acknowledge Byleth as their own person and abandons her selfish desires to reunite with her mother, thus being able to genuinely become the virtuous archbishop Rhea that she projected all along.]] |
| 568 | * FinalBoss: Whenever they appear, you can bet on them being the last opponent you face. The only exception is Epimenides, but even then he is still the second-to-last boss before the Immaculate One and/or Thales. |
| 569 | * GreaterScopeVillain: It is generally the Gharnef or the Rudolf who serves as the BigBad, with the Medeus generally only showing up just before the FinalBoss fight. Often averted if there is a Hardin around for them to control, turning them instead into the actual BigBad (examples include Fomortiis and Anankos). |
| 570 | * TheManBehindTheMan: They frequently end up either directing or manipulating other villains from behind the scenes. |
| 571 | * MisanthropeSupreme: Most of their backstory revolves around them harboring animosity against humans for whatever reason. Other villains would make use of the Medeus' hatred for humanity and godly strength to advance their agendas. |
| 572 | * SealedEvilInACan: Most Medeus-types have a habit of either having been sealed or killed in the backstory, with the goal of the villains to resurrect or free them from their cans. If and how they're able to communicate with their minions depends on the nature of their current predicament. |
| 573 | * UniqueEnemy: Most of them have their own exclusive class, although it's averted for Medeus himself (in ''Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light'' and its remake) and Jahn (in ''The Binding Blade''), who are both ordinary Manaketes; though in the former case he has a personal dragon weapon (Earthstone) that gives him a unique Dragon form in combat, in both the original and the remake. |
| 574 | [[/folder]] |
| 575 | |
| 576 | !Others |
| 577 | The Unfought Catalyst: Background [[TheUnfought unfought]] characters whose nasty actions [[UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom unwittingly created lasting problems for the world or accidentally enabled the present villains]]. |
| 578 | |
| 579 | [[folder:The Unfought Catalyst]] |
| 580 | By far, non-hostile [[NonPlayerCharacter NPCs]] tend to be more or less hapless allies or good {{Posthumous Character}}s. Not these characters, however: There are some [[NonPlayerCharacter NPCs]] that were actually despicable from what is told, but [[TheUnfought you don't fight them at all]], maybe it's because they're already dead, or their retribution came off-screen. However, in the past, they did some things that became the catalyst of the events that come to pass in the past because they just can't keep their flaws in check. They tend to be horrible people in general, as one of the attempts to gray out the morality of the setting: Not all those {{Non Player Character}}s are innocent victims, but they may even give you and the land trouble post-mortem. In other words, they end up being the UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom, which makes it very frustrating for the players because they're not given the chance to directly sock them in the face and make them pay for what they have done, possibly making them even surpass all other characters in the directly antagonistic tropes (from the Vile Opportunists to the Evil's Inner Circle) in terms of despicability. But on the other hand, it cemented their importance in the narrative: Without their horrible act, the plot of the game wouldn't even happen at all.\ |
| 581 | |
| 582 | Members of this archetype must be unable to be directly fought, however. Any time they are actually fought and defeated with game mechanics in any of the time span of the series, they are ruled out. And since they are by nature [[NonPlayerCharacter NPCs]], none of them are recruitable. |
| 583 | |
| 584 | ->'''Characters of this archetype''': Adrah (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Lima IV (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden/Shadows of Valentia]]''); Gair and Victor (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Desmond (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Forneus (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'')[[note]]While he is first mentioned in ''Shadows of Valentia'', his lasting effect that ends up being the archetype (the creation of Grima) is felt in the ''Awakening'' timeline[[/note]]; Marquis von Vestra, Lord Arundel, Baron Bartels, and the ancient Agarthans (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemWarriorsThreeHopes Warriors: Three Hopes]]''); Alternate Sombron [[note]]Fell Xenologue only[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'') |
| 585 | |
| 586 | ->'''Characters that only have elements of this archetype''': Taliver Bandits (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]'')[[note]]They collectively serve as a TokenMotivationalNemesis for Lyndis, having murdered her parents and village when she was a child, and are reviled [[EvenEvilHasStandards even by the rival Ganelon Bandits]]. They are [[TheUnfought never fought]] or even seen in the game proper, and are KilledOffscreen by a player character, Wallace, during the TimeSkip. However, they have no apparent connection to any of the major villains, either in this game or ''The Binding Blade'', and are only ever relevant to Lyndis' backstory.[[/note]]; Lekain (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'')[[note]]In that game, he and the rest of the Begnion Senators looked more like unassuming ObstructiveBureaucrat [[NonPlayerCharacter NPCs]] of the Begnion state, but the next game reveals that he's responsible for everything bad that happened in Tellius in the recent past, especially the Serenes Massacre. He's eventually ruled out with the fact that he's directly fought and defeated in the sequel, ''Radiant Dawn''.[[/note]]; Great Noble Families of Adrestia [[note]]Duke Ludwig von Aegir, Count Grégoire von Varley, Count Waldemar von Hevring, Count Leopold von Bergliez, and Duke Gerth; just like Lekain, they are ruled out due to being fought in ''Three Hopes''. Additionally, Counts Hevring and Bergliez and Duke Gerth are revealed to be decent people in ''Three Hopes'', averting the asshole criteria.[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemWarriorsThreeHopes Warriors: Three Hopes]]''); Parents of the Ljósálfr and Dökkálfr (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemHeroes Heroes]]'')[[note]]They may be unfought and despicable AbusiveParents for Peony, Mirabilis, Triandra, and Plumeria, but generally, their actions didn't have that big of an impact on the chaos in Ljósálfheimr and Dökkálfheimr; all they served was just to give servants for Freyr and Freyja, the instigator of chaos was Freyja.[[/note]] |
| 587 | ---- |
| 588 | * AssholeVictim: Their heinous deeds often resulted in their actions coming back to bite them hard, and needless to say, it was well deserved [[AndThereWasMuchRejoicing and sometimes, there was much rejoicing]]. Adrah averts this by the virtue of how he was never a victim of anything (he actually succeeded in his goals) and his general personality outside the theft he did to the Shield of Seals was rather blurry to confirm whether he's an asshole or not. [[LaserGuidedKarma His descendants, however, end up being the victims of his crime by karma.]] Gerth, Bergliez and Hevring are also all decent men who [[spoiler:end up supporting Edelgard]] and on some routes Count Bergliez [[AFatherToHisMen will lay down his life so his soldiers may live]]. |
| 589 | * DidntThinkThisThrough: They do their actions without thinking of lasting effects, only living for the moment. By the time the lasting effect happened, if they may have second thoughts, it's already too late or for those who have no regrets (like [[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses the Agarthans]]), pass the will to the next generation. |
| 590 | * FlatCharacter: Most of them are defined by their flaws and whatever they did in the past. As a result, their other characterization is not a high priority in the writing, so whatever is highlighted on them [[HateSink makes them look very bad on purpose]]. |
| 591 | * HateSink: While they're actually non-playable and could technically be 'on your side', the games don't shy away to showcase that they're not to be liked at all. Some of them may be designed to be even more despicable than the actual villains of their games, which may be why they're put in the Antagonistic Archetypes. Adrah and some of the Noble Families of Adrestia are the only ones that downplay this, due to Adrah's minimal characterization making his whole personality and actions feel more ambiguous despite causing trouble for millenia to come and Gerth, Bergliez and Hevring being shown to be surprisingly decent individuals. |
| 592 | * {{Jerkass}}: Plain and simple, if their personalities are known to the players, they're assholes with no redeeming qualities, and their acts may be kind of heinous, but rarely match with what the current villains have in store. Averted with Duke Gerth and Counts Bergliez and Hevring, who are all decent guys who seem to have sided with [[FatBastard Aegir]] and [[spoiler:[[DeadPersonImpersonation the fake]]]] Arundel more out of convenience than malice. [[spoiler:They certainly have no problem turing against the former in ''Three Houses'' and against both in ''Three Hopes''.]] |
| 593 | * KarmaHoudini: |
| 594 | ** For the time he lived, Adrah didn't really suffer any direct karmic hammer from his theft, he lived and died just fine, achieving his goal to form his own kingdom that spanned through generations. It's just his descendants who paid the price for his actions, from the curse of tragedy, the disillusionment of Medeus and the war that came with it (which happened years after Adrah passed away). |
| 595 | ** Desmond got away with his abuse and attempted assassination of Zephiel in ''The Blazing Blade'', though Zephiel [[KarmaHoudiniWarranty made sure he got his comeuppance]] before ''The Binding Blade'' began. |
| 596 | ** Houses Gerth, Hevring, and Bergliez more or less get away with their crimes on routes where the player supports the Adrestian Empire. Otherwise, it's partially averted as Leopold and Waldemar can both [[OutlivingOnesOffspring see their sons die]] in the war they unwittingly helped start, in addition to Leopold dying in every route that is not Crimson Flower in ''Three Houses''. |
| 597 | ** Alternate Sombron very much succeeded in wiping out humanity in Alternate Lythos, with what remains of it ending up having to migrate to the main world and only having to compensate with defeating the main timeline Sombron. Even with his death, [[TheBadGuyWins he kinda won.]] |
| 598 | * NonPlayerCharacter: But not the friendly types either. |
| 599 | * PosthumousCharacter: For the most part these characters are already dead before the start of the game. Only the Great Noble Families of Adrestia avert this, as they're still present in-game and their actions were more recent (except for [[spoiler:Lord Arundel, who was [[KillAndReplace murdered and replaced]] by Thales prior to the Insurrection of the Seven]]). Desmond plays with this: he counts within the timeline of ''The Binding Blade'', but he's alive and well in ''The Blazing Blade'' because the game is a prequel set in a time where he still lives. He remains TheUnfought, though. |
| 600 | * SmallRoleBigImpact: Despite their minimum role and dead state by the game started, it's clear that their actions caused a great ripple in present time. |
| 601 | * TheUnfought: Much as you wish to, you don't even fight them. They remain either unplayable, unfought, or already dead [=NPCs=]. |
| 602 | * UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: They decided to thrive in their flaws and then [[TheUnfought died]] and the world pays the price: |
| 603 | ** Adrah's theft of the Shield of Seals that he used to found the Archanea Kingdom and conquer the land caused the Earth Dragons to awaken from their slumber, which paved the way for Medeus's disillusionment with human's treatment towards his kin, leading to the formation of the Dolhr Empire and cursing Adrah's own generation with tragedy. |
| 604 | ** Lima IV's generally prideful, cruel and [[TheHedonist hedonistic]] attitude made the otherwise peaceful Zofia become slothful, which not only caused trouble for his descendants, but gave justification for the generally poor Rigel to invade, as well as making the otherwise benevolent Mila (that blessed him) suffer draconic degeneration. |
| 605 | ** Gair's decision to journey to Archanea for 'personal power' ended up with him making contact with Loptous, kickstarting the dark age of Jugdral that haunts the continent for decades to come. |
| 606 | ** Victor was an unrepentant womanizer and abusive father/husband towards his family. His wife, Cigyun, held Loptous blood, and the two gave birth to Arvis. However, Victor's abuse led Cigyun to have an affair with Prince Kurth who had Naga blood, giving birth to Deirdre, causing Victor to commit suicide out of spite. This gives Manfroy the exact tools he needed to revive Loptous and shaped up Arvis to be a ruthless manipulator that ended up [[spoiler:killing Sigurd]]. |
| 607 | ** Desmond is basically a really jealous father against his well-loved by public, dutiful, and talented son Zephiel just because he's born from an ArrangedMarriage. He repeatedly refused to treat Zephiel well and repeatedly tried to have him dead, [[spoiler:only for Zephiel to eventually snap in the last attempt, kill him in retaliation, and then become a MisanthropeSupreme who judged humanity based how his father treated him, waging war against Elibe to give the rulership to dragons]]. |
| 608 | ** Forneus just wanted to create a 'perfect lifeform', but didn't treat it well, and in turn, made the lifeform kill him. While Alm and Celica put a halt on that, the lifeform only went to slumber, and [[spoiler:millenia later, the Grimleal capitalized on his awakening, becoming known as Grima and terrorizing Ylisse and its surroundings]]. |
| 609 | ** Duke Aegir, Count Varley, Count Hevring, Count Bergliez, Lord Arundel, Duke Gerth, and Marquis Vestra orchestrated the Insurrection of the Seven, all of which left a lasting impression on Edelgard and [[spoiler:factored in why she became the Flame Emperor and concocted her destructive plan that threatened Fódlan]], though three of them (Bergliez, Hevring and Gerth) eventually [[spoiler:side with Edelgard and [[KarmaHoudini seemingly suffer no consequences for their previous betrayal]] on the route where she wins the war]]. And that is before you account on [[AbusiveParents how they treat their children]], ''especially'' Count Varley to Bernadetta. There's also Baron Bartels, who may not have been part of the Insurrection of the Seven, but was a horrible father to Mercedes and caused [[spoiler:the rise of the Death Knight]]. |
| 610 | ** The Agarthans became DrunkWithPower given to them by Sothis and rebelled in an attempt to prove their superiority, causing Sothis to obliterate them. They then became the first generation of the people that would be known as 'those who slither in the dark' (not including Thales) and manipulated Nemesis and the Ten Elites into slaughtering Sothis and the Children of the Goddess as revenge, causing Seiros to snap and eventually lock Fódlan in MedievalStasis to prevent such tragedy again. |
| 611 | ** Averted with Alternate Sombron: He actually counted on what would happen after his passing against the alternate Alear, so he's actually a very witting instigator of doom. |
| 612 | * VillainsActHeroesReact: They're the ones that acted first, accidentally creating the grounds for the chaos that eventually swept their land. [[spoiler:Though sowing chaos throughout the land was exactly what Arundel was aiming for, since [[DeadPersonImpersonation he's actually Thales]] [[AncientConspiracy and the leader of those who slither in the dark]].]] |
| 613 | [[/folder]] |
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